Non-Banking Activities

Leasing

The leasing companies of the NLB Group are comprehensive providers of leasing services to individuals and corporate clients, as well as to independent contractors. Their main business is financing real estate, personal and commercial vehicles, computer and other information technology equipment, industrial and office furnishings, agricultural equipment and the like.

NLB Leasing Group Ljubljana and other leasing companies provide leasing services for the NLB group in the Slovenian and SE European markets. Leasing is an important activity for the Group and involves 11 leasing companies: five in the Slovenian market and six in the markets of SE Europe. The leasing companies together employ 166 people.

The NLB leasing companies’ market share in Slovenia is 13.1%, placing them second in the country. Lately, its principal emphasis is on expanding leasing activities to the markets of SE Europe. The NLB Group is among the leaders in leasing in Macedonia and Serbia. NLB Lizing Skopje deserves special mention, as it is not only the biggest leasing company in the Macedonian market, but also the first.

Factoring and Forfaiting

The NLB Group provides factoring and forfaiting services in the Slovenian market through Prvi Faktor Group and LHB Finance. The Group also provides these services in the markets of SE Europe, in Switzerland, in the Czech and the Slovak Republics. Factoring and forfaiting employed 197 people.

NLB InterFinanz Zürich provides mainly forfaiting services, but also offers other commercial banking products.

NLB Factor and NLB Factoring companies focus mainly on factoring services (including claim collection, administration and insurance), as well as on long-term and investment loans and financing of real estate and development activities.

NLB Group has a 50% stake in the companies of the Prvi Faktor Group (with SID bank owning the other 50%). Prvi Faktor Group companies are specialized to offer complex factoring services (acquisition, insurance and management of accounts receivable in domestic and foreign markets). The largest of these operations in the Group is Prvi Faktor Zagreb, which is also the leading factoring company in the Croatian market. Prvi Faktor Ljubljana is a member of the international factoring association, Factor Chain International (FCI), while Prvi Faktor Belgrade is part of the International Factoring Group (IFG).

Asset Management

The NLB Group's NLB Skladi has operated in this market since 2004. The company is among the leading providers of investment funds management in Slovenia, achieving above average success in managing investments funds. Its market share is 14% (by assets of mutual funds from non-private sources), while its contribution to the overall NLB Group profits was 3.8%.

Besides the general advantages of mutual funds, NLB Skladi offers additional advantages, such as adjustable savings plans, competitive commission rates and expenses, management in line with international standards, genuine transparency of investment policies, timely information for investors, as well as providing state of the art services to investors by all the members of the NLB network.

Life and Pension Insurance

The NLB Group provides life and pension insurance services.

NLB Vita (50% ownership by the NLB Group, the other 50% by KBC), offers life insurance products tailored to fit special situations, sold exclusively through its banking network. With a market share of 7.2%, NLB Vita is the fifth largest life insurance company in Slovenia. It contributes 0.2% to overall NLB Group profits.

NLB Group also provides pension insurance services in SE Europe: in Macedonia (Nov Penziski Fond with market share of 47.3%), Serbia (NLB Nova Penzija with market share of 2%) and Montenegro (NLB Penzija, which is still in the process of acquiring a concession/license).

Skupna Pokojninska Družba is an associate member of the NLB Group and is the leading provider of voluntary pension insurance in Slovenia, holding a market share of 19.3%.

NLB Group
Annual Report 2007