Ljubljana, 27 May (STA) - Banks in Slovenia generated EUR 178 million in net profit during the first quarter, a 26% decrease compared to the same period last year. Net interest income was 12.5% lower, while non-interest income fell by just under 1%, show data published on Tuesday by the Bank of Slovenia.
Net interest income totalled EUR 354 million, down 12.5% year-on-year, while non-interest income of EUR 146 million was 0.9% lower. Net impairments and provisions reached EUR 20 million, 1.6 times higher than in the same period last year.
Banks' pre-tax profit, at EUR 204 million, was 26.5% lower than in the first three months of last year.
Lending to the non-banking sector has increased by EUR 697 million since the start of the year, reaching EUR 29.1 billion by the end of March. This means a year-on-year increase of 7.6%.
Within this, loans to households rose by 6.4% year-on-year to EUR 13.3 billion. Of this total, housing loans increased by 4.9% to EUR 8.6 billion, while consumer loans saw a 12.3% rise to EUR 3.3 billion.
Loans to non-financial companies grew by EUR 298 million from the beginning of this year to the end of March, totalling EUR 10.1 billion. This was 0.9% higher than at the end of March last year.
Household deposits reached EUR 27.4 billion, up 3.6% compared to a year ago. In the first three months of this year, they increased by EUR 83.5 million. Deposits from non-financial corporations rose by 3.7% year-on-year to EUR 10.9 billion. However, from the start of the year to the end of March, their volume decreased by just over EUR 31 million.
The banking sector's total assets stood at EUR 55.17 billion at the end of March, an increase of 4.4% year-on-year.
