STA, 24 February 2022 - The Slovenia-based banking group NLB posted a record profit of EUR 236.4 million in 2021, a substantial growth compared to the previous year, excluding effects from the acquisition of Komercijalna Banka in Serbia, shows unaudited data published on the website of the Ljubljana Stock Exchange.
"The results of our business operations in 2021 show that we have successfully left the epidemic far behind us and more importantly, that we have emerged from it stronger than ever," said NLB CEO Blaž Brodnjak as the unaudited 2021 results were published.
Last year, NLB acquired Komercijalna Banka Beograd to become a major player in seven markets in South-East Europe, and integrated two banks in Montenegro - NLB Banka Podgorica and Komercijalna Banka Podgorica.
"The supervisory board is pleased that the NLB Group has successfully utilised the opportunities offered by the supportive economic environment of strong GDP growth in the region, healthy private consumption, and loan demand," said Primož Karpe, chairman of the supervisory board.
Net interest revenue was up by 37% to EUR 409.4 million last year, to which Komercijalna Banka contributed EUR 98.5 million. Excluding this, a 4% growth was recorded, mostly due to strong rise in loans.
The growth in net fee and commission income was at 39%, which NLB labelled as "impressive".
The group attributes this to "high demand for investment products, such as asset management and bancassurance products, together with high income from activities related to general business activities".
Loans were up by 9% and deposits by 8%. Deposits from customers increased by 5%, which shows that savers transferred part of their savings to alternative investments.
NLB released EUR 35.8 million worth of impairments and provisions.
In the future, the group plans to focus on intensive digitalisation and improving of user experience and its sustainability.
