Investors looking for bank stocks to buy might want to look past the FTSE 100 and see what the FTSE 250 has to offer. Over the past five years, TBC Bank (LSE:TBCG) has delivered returns above those of Lloyds, Barclays and other blue-chip banking shares.

TBC — which offers services in Georgia and Uzbekistan — has soared 291% in value over the period. Lloyds, by comparison, has seen its share price increase 171%, while Barclays has printed a 209% increase. Even fellow emerging markets specialist HSBC has risen a more modest (if still very respectable) 204%.

TBC’s share price rose to the top of the FTSE 250 leaderboard too after releasing brilliant trading numbers for 2025. At £44.85 per share, it was last 4% higher on Friday (20 February).

The question is, can the Georgian bank continue its stunning ascent?

Strong numbers

A combination of rapid economic growth and low product penetration is supercharging profits at TBC, as today’s update again showed. Net interest income leapt 23.3% in 2025, when gross loans increased 12.8% and customer deposits leapt 12.3%.

Elsewhere, monthly active customers rose 7% over the year to 7.9m. This was helped by the bank’s ongoing investment in digital banking and artificial intelligence (AI) tools.

This excellent performance pushed TBC’s pre-tax profits 8.4% higher in 2025. And encouragingly for 2026, trading picked up momentum towards the end of last year. Its loan book rose 6% quarter-on-quarter during Q4, driving pre-tax profit 12.3% higher from Q3 (and 21.7% from the same 2024 quarter).

Growth story continues

City analysts expect TBC’s earnings to keep on rising — growth of 10% and 14% are predicted for 2026 and 2027, respectively.

This means the company trades on a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 5.4 times. And its price-to-earnings growth (PEG) ratio is 0.6, well below the value watermark of 1.

To put that into perspective, Lloyds shares trade on a forward P/E ratio of 10.4 times. And while also an industry leader, the Black Horse Bank has much weaker growth potential than TBC, given the intense competition it faces and the mature market in which it operates.

At these prices, I think the FTSE 250 company is worth a very close look.

A no-brainer buy?

So is the stock an obvious buy for investors? I wouldn’t necessarily say that. TBC operates in a politically sensitive part of the world, and future government policy could have significant implications for earnings. Georgia remains in a long-running tug of war between politicians seeking closer alignment with Russia and those favouring the EU.

However, my view is that this threat’s more than baked into the bank’s rock-bottom valuation. If it continues to pump out impressive trading numbers, I think the cheap rating could help TBC enjoy more stunning share price gains. It’s a top stock to consider, in my view.