Öz
The banking sector is one of the basic building blocks for the economies of, particularly, developing countries, and the profitability of this sector is significant for financial development. Especially with the Covid-19 pandemic, determining the factors affecting the profitability of the banking sector has gained more importance. The aim of this study is to determine the factors affecting the profitability, income, and share values of deposit banks operating in Turkey and to offer suggestions for an optimum financial structure. Accordingly, the data set of the study consists of the ratios created by making use of the quarterly financial statements of nine banks traded in Borsa Istanbul between the dates of 2014/03-2022/03. The collected secondary data were subjected to Partial Least Squares-Variance-Based Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) analysis via the SmartPLS program. According to the findings, it has been determined that growth rates have a negative effect on valuation rates and a positive effect on profitability rates; valuation rates have a positive effect on income rates and a negative effect on profitability rates; financial structure ratios have a positive effect on valuation ratios and a negative effect on income ratios; equity adequacy ratios have a positive effect on profitability ratios.