Best bank
Raiffeisenbank
Best equity house
M&V Investments
Best M&A house
Beopublikum
The obvious choice for the best bank in the country would have been a Serbian bank. In particular, Komercijalna Banka, has done some excellent work. Its net profit more than tripled between 2002 and 2003, to YD147 million ($2.5 million).
As CEO Ljubomir Mihajlovic put it: ?In 2003, Komercijalna Banka saw an exceptional, even incredible expansion in terms of all business indicators.?
Unfortunately, after a decade at the bank, Mihajlovic recently resigned. The reasons are unclear, so it is difficult to judge the bank?s performance before the situation is cleared up. If and when it is, the bank will be a serious contender for this award next year.
This year, then, the award goes to Raiffeisenbank. The bank?s profits apparently grew by about 5,000%, which suggests a weak 2002. Return on equity is strong at 22.9%. The bank?s subsidiary in Serbia was the first bank to introduce secondary T-bill trading, and has played an important role in advising multinationals such as US Steel and Philip Morris in Serbian acquisitions. It has a 10.5% share of corporate deposits, and has established a leasing subsidiary.