Slovenia's banking group NLB posted a net profit of €514.6 million last year on €1.24 billion in net revenue. The profit figure marks a 7% decrease on the record earnings posted in 2023.

Releasing unaudited financials on 20 February, the bank described the past financial year as solid.

Net revenue was up by 14%. Net interest revenue increased by 12% to €934.5 million, while net non-interest revenue rose by 19% to €310.6 million.

Expenditure increased by 20% to €602.2 million. Profit before impairments and provisions was up by 9% to €642.6 million with impairments and provisions up by 166% to €37.4 million.

The government imposed a temporary 0.2% tax on total assets of banks last year to fund reconstruction after the devastating floods in August 2023.

NLB paid €33 million in that tax last year. On the other hand, profit was positively affected by the booking of deferred tax assets in the amount of €61.9 million.

NLB generates half of country's banking profit

The bank's net profit accounted for almost a half of the combined profits of all banks in Slovenia last year. These totalled just over €1.1 billion, down 2% on the year before.

Gross lending by NLB increased by 19% to €16.72 billion. Total cash deposits increased by 7% to €22.21 billion.

The negative trend in non-performing loans which persisted for several years came to an end last year. The group's portfolio of bad loans increased from €300.5 million at the end of 2023 to €330.5 million at the end of 2024.

The parent bank NLB posted a net profit of €478.2 million.

The groups's total assets rose by 8% to over €28 million at the end of the year. In Slovenia, NLB remains market leader, holding a 32% share, followed by Hungary's OTP (28%) and Italy's Intesa Sanpaolo (7.8%).

Last year NLB paid out €220 million in dividends in two tranches.