Awards for Excellence 2009: Slovenia

Nova Ljubljanska Banka (NLB) remains the pre-eminent bank in Slovenia, easily eclipsing its competitors in the breadth of its banking services and products. Despite a challenging domestic economic backdrop it retained its grip on the Slovenian banking market in 2008, registering positive growth in assets, loans and deposits. As a result it continues to control roughly a third of the Slovenian market. Highlights in 2008 included a $300 million capital increase, which boosted the bank’s capital base to almost €1.2 billion from €893 million in 2007, with the bank’s capital adequacy ratio increasing by one percentage point over the same period to reach a respectable 11.9%. Although after-tax profits slumped from €119 million to €49 million, there was positive news on net interest income, which jumped from €229 million to €286 million. As well as being the leading retail and corporate bank in Slovenia, NLB’s strong investment banking and asset management operations mean it is well placed to benefit from any economic upswing. As a systemically important bank, it has also secured a guarantee from the Slovenian government for a planned €2.5 billion bond issuance programme.