Best bank:
Nova Ljubljanska
Best debt house:
Nova Ljubljanska
Best equity house:
Publikum
Best M&A house:
Citigroup/Schroder Salomon Smith Barney and HSBC (joint award)
As was the case in all the ex-Yugoslav republics Slovenia inherited a plethora of regional banks. To date the only commercial banks that truly covers the country is Nova Ljubljanska. It is the largest bank by assets, with a 28% market share and a further 16% in subsidiaries and associated banks such as Banka Celje and Dolenjska banka. Nova Ljubljanska operates over 200 branches in Slovenia and expanded recently into Bosnia Herzegovina and Macedonia.
Triple-B rated Nova Ljubljanska is one of the best-rated banks in the region. But the bank's performance, while improving, has some way to go. Its cost/income ratio stands at 59%, the capital ratio at 14% and it produced a ROE of 14%. In Slovenia there are, however, no competitors that can challenge Nova Ljubljanska's position.
Number two and three, Nova Kreditna Banka Maribor (NKBM) and SKB, are much smaller and less efficient, and foreign banks have not been able to make an impact in commercial banking at all.