For the six largest banks in Serbia, 2025 was more prosperous than the previous year, as they earned nearly 1.2 billion euros, the Danas daily reports.
According to unaudited financial statements, the top six banks by both total assets and profit generated a net profit of 1.19 billion euros last year, or 139 billion dinars.
Although the National Bank of Serbia introduced caps on interest rates last year, not only on housing loans but also on almost all other loans to citizens, banks managed quite well.
The net profit of the six largest banks, which control almost three-quarters of the banking market (by assets), was six per cent higher than in 2024. This is a good indicator of the performance of the rest of the banking market, which consists of a further 13 banks.
As is usually the case, the largest share of earnings came from interest. Net interest income, calculated as interest income minus the expenses banks pay on interest, amounted to 182 billion dinars. In euros, this is more than 1.5 billion euros. However, despite a rise in lending activity of as much as 15 per cent, net interest income increased by slightly less than one per cent compared with 2024.
As a result, banks continued the practice they had already adopted during the period of low interest rates, namely charging ever higher fees and commissions.
In 2025, the six largest banks collected net income from fees and commissions amounting to 72.7 billion dinars, or around 620 million euros. Compared with the previous year, 2024, this income increased by nearly 11 per cent, and by as much as 30 per cent compared with 2023.
Last year, the Italian Intesa bank returned to the top of the list of the most profitable banks after two years. According to unaudited income statements, it recorded a net profit of 264.9 million euros. Compared with 2024, this bank’s profit increased by 36 million euros.
Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank ranked second with a net profit of nearly 248 million euros, after two years at the head of the Serbian banking sector. Compared with 2024, its profit decreased by around 1.3 million euros.
In third place was Hungary’s OTP Bank with a profit of 201.5 million euros, a decrease of 18.5 million euros compared with 2024. Another Italian bank, UniCredit, recorded a net profit of 198 million euros, about 2.5 million euros less than the year before.
In fifth place was Slovenia’s NLB Komercijalna banka with 155 million euros, and an increase in profit of 13.3 million euros over the year.
In sixth place was the only domestically owned bank in this group, AikBank, with 123.6 million euros. Its profit increased by as much as 41 million euros compared with 2024, although it should be noted that in March last year it integrated Eurobank Direktna banka into its operations, which in previous years had generated profits of around fifteen million euros.
(Biznis.rs, 17.03.2026)