tbc bank group plc said wednesday that its fourthquarter pretax profit rose 64 as it benefited from higher interest rates fee and commission income and the performance of its foreign exchange operations the subsidiary of the londonlisted georgian bank posted a pretax profit of 3707 million georgian lari 1407 million up from gel2254 million for the comparable period a year prior the lenders netinterest income rose to gel3574 million compared with gel2754 million in the prior fourth quarter a year before and its net interest margin rose 09 percentage points to 63 tbc confirmed its midterm target with return on equity of above 20 cost to income ratio below 35 dividend payout ratio of 2535 and annual loan growth of around 1015 it said tbcs return on equity for the fourth quarter stood at 223 while the costtoincome ratio improved by 72 percentage points to 332