Slovakia

Albania I Belarus I Bosnia & Herezegovina I Bulgaria I Croatia I Czech Republic I Georgia I Hungary I Poland I Romania I Russia I Serbia I Slovakia I Slovenia I Turkey I Ukraine In Slovakia, Erste Bank’s Slovenska Sporitelna and Banca Intesa’s VUB continue to slug it out for the top spot in the banking sector. It’s a photo finish between the two. Slovenska Sporitelna’s net income last year was $120 million. VUB’s was $119 million. VUB’s cost-income ratio was 56%. Slovenska Sporitelna’s was 55.5%. VUB is rightly proud of its consumer finance division, called CFH, which helped increase the bank’s retail loans portfolio by 60%. But we’ve chosen to give it to Slovenska Sporitelna, because it made more money, has a slightly better return on equity, and a leadership position in asset management and leasing.