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LJUBLJANA, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Slovenia’s largest bank, Nova Ljubljanska Banka (NLB), reported group net profit of 162.2 million euros ($178.78 million) in the first nine months of 2019 on higher lending, up from the 158.3 million in the same period of 2018.
NLB also said in a statement on Friday that bad loans fell to 5.2% of all loans by the end of September from 7.6% a year before. Balance sheet assets rose by 6% to 13.5 billion euros.
“All subsidiary banks in South Eastern Europe generated profit and contributed 39% to the group’s profit before taxes,” NLB said.
It added that profit before impairments and provisions rose by 7% to 170.3 million euros. Net loans rose by 5% compared with the end of 2018, while customer deposits also rose 5%.
The total capital ratio for the NLB group reached 16.1% at the end of September and was above regulatory requirements of 14.75%.
NLB, which has a market value of 1.1 billion euros, operates in Slovenia, Serbia, Bosnia, Kosovo, North Macedonia and Montenegro.
$1 = 0.9073 euros Reporting by Marja Novak, editing by Louise Heavens
