As of today, 43 microfinance organizations operate on the Georgian market. Over the last year, 19 MFOs have been liquidated. The changes on the market were mainly related to the regulations that were introduced within the framework of the responsible lending system in the country. Due to these regulations, the portfolio of online loans has fallen sharply.
As of the Q1, 2020, the largest microfinance organization in terms of assets was MFO Crystal, with assets of 411 million GEL and a total loan portfolio of more than 310 million GEL. The second largest player on the market is Rico Express, with assets of GEL 366 million and a loan portfolio of GEL 271 million. In total, the assets of the sector amounted to 1.45 billion GEL for Q1.
In 2019, the total profit of the microfinance sector decreased 278 times and amounted to 112 thousand GEL. The main reason for the loss was the multimillion-dollar losses in individual microfinance institutions. The net profit of the sector was at the peak i2016 and amounted to 151.8 million GEL. Since 2017, the total profitability rate has been declining. In Q1 2020, the total profit of the sector amounted to 18.5 million GEL.