20 July 2006
The NLB Group in Bosnia and Herzegovina
There are 31 banks operating in Bosnia and Herzegovina, most of them in the BiH Federation and 8 of them in the Republic of Srpska. The NLB Group has established an efficient branch network in Bosnia and Herzegovina through its members NLB Razvonja banka Banja Luka, NLB Tuzlanska banka, NLB Leasing Sarajevo and Prvi factor Sarajevo, which enables it to provide a wide range of financial services to its clients and become one of the leading banking and financial groups in the market of Bosnia and Herzegovina, said the President of the Management Board of NLB, Marjan Kramar, during his visit.
The leading bank of the Republic of Srpska: NLB Razvojna banka Banja Luka
The largest bank in the Republic of Srpska is the NLB Razvojna banka Banja Luka with a 24% market share in terms of total assets; the bank has been operating under this name ever since the merger of LHB banka Banja Luka and Razvojna banka Jugoistočne Evrope in April 2006. The biggest owner is the NLB Group with 79.57% of the capital (the NLB owns a 50.6% capital stake), 6.22% is owned by the Vojvođanska banka and the rest are shares held by the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Srpska and other legal and natural persons.
The NLB Razvojna banka has the largest branch network in the territory of the Republic of Srpska with 65 branch units and 510 employees. As explained by the Director of the NLB Razvojna banka Banja Luka, Radovan Bajić, the bank generated an income of 27.8 million convertible marks and BAM 1.3 million in profit.
According to Marjan Kramar, the credit potential and ability of the Bank and the NLB Group to credit all the projects, from the smallest through to the largest, are the most characteristic competitive advantages of both the NLB Razvojna banka Banja Luka and the NLB Tuzlanska banka. The banks build on reliability and safety as well as on partnerships with the clients. They put the needs and wishes of their clients first and use them to establish common long-term business interests.
NLB Tuzlanska banka plans an expansion
The NLB Tuzlanska banka is a universal bank whose technical and HR potential was considerably improved after the merger; it has an almost 6% market share and its capital totals around 53 million convertible marks or nearly 27 million euros. After the acquisition of the CBS Bank Sarajevo by the NLB Tuzlanska banka, the branch network was expanded to over 40 places in the BiH Federation. The General Manager Almir Šahinpašić explained that they plan a further expansion to the Unsko-sanski and Zahodno-hercegovski canton in 2008, as well as an expansion of the range of products and services offered to corporate and retail clients, especially by means of the NLB's existing services. The clients and their business interests will remain their top priority. The NLB Tuzlanska banka provides quality and efficient services to them. They plan to increase their market share to 10% in the BiH Federation, with an ROE exceeding 20%. Based on this indicator, the prominent London newspaper Finance Central Europe declared the NLB Tuzlanska banka to be the best bank in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Public Relations, the NLB Group
The NLB Group today
The NLB Group encompasses 56 members in 15 countries, including 14 banks, 11 leasing companies, 12 international financing companies, 3 insurance companies, 3 financial organisations engaged in capital management and 13 members involved in other activities. The Group provides services to more than 3 million clients and has over 8,000 employees. By virtue of its total assets of almost EUR 13 billion and its correspondence relations with 1,500 banks from 140 countries, the NLB Group is today the largest Slovenian international financial group. Its international credit ratings that ensure access to foreign funding sources are: Moody's A2, Fitch A- ? Capital Intelligence A-.