12 July 2019 - NLB Bank is the winner of the Best Bank in Montenegro 2019 Award, granted by the renowned financial magazine Euromoney. Lucy Fitz George-Parker, Emerging Europe Editor, handed over the award to Martin Leberle, Chief Executive Officer of NLB Bank, at a ceremony held on July 10 in London.
During its several decades of business in Montenegro, NLB Bank, as a system bank, has built the position of a reliable and responsible partner with a distinctive quality of service.
The prestigious award for the Bank of the Year confirms that NLB Bank is recognized as a credible financial partner to citizens and the economy even outside of Montenegro’s borders, providing strong support in the development of the environment in which it operates.
Despite its tiny size, Montenegro remains a profitable and highly competitive banking market. The Balkan state’s largest lenders all posted strong results last year, with subsidiaries of both Société Générale and Slovenia’s NLB Group notching record net profits. However, it is NLB Banka that wins the award for best bank in Montenegro thanks to its impressive growth, superior efficiency and progress on innovation; it is said in the official statement by Euromoney.
“Ranked fifth in Montenegro by total assets, with a market share of 11.1%, NLB Bank more than doubled its return on equity to 14.9%. This was driven partly by lower net impairments and provisions – non-performing loans fell 2.8 percentage points during the year to 5.2% – but also by rising revenues. Net interest income rose by 9.9% thanks to double-digit growth in retail lending, while non-interest income was up 12.9%. A new ‘super-fast cash loan’ product, offering five-minute decision-making in-branch or via Viber, proved particularly popular with Montenegro’s retail borrowers,” explain Euromoney’s experts.
On the corporate side, NLB Bank coordinated the first joint cross-border financing with its parent group for a real estate development project on the Montenegrin coast. Combined with a 0.6% reduction in operating costs, the jump in net profit brought NLB Bank’s cost-to-income ratio down to a sector-beating 51.8%. Capitalization meanwhile remained comfortable, with the overall capital adequacy ratio increasing by 1.3 percentage points in the 12 months to the end of December to 16.2%.
"We are proud of this significant recognition that confirms our long-term goal - to be the best bank in Montenegro. We have worked hard to achieve this goal by focusing on the process optimization and sales channels of the bank in order to provide a unique user experience and customer satisfaction. All that we did contributed to the achievement of the best financial result in 2018, and the trend of positive business is recorded for the fifth consecutive year. A good result has enabled us to keep the leading position in the market and remain a respected brand in Montenegro. This result would not have been possible without the great commitment of all employees in NLB Bank, but also without the support of a strong NLB Group, which is dedicated to building its position as a financial, banking expert in Southeast Europe, "said Martin Leberle, on behalf of the Management Board of NLB Banka, on the occasion of winning the prize, reports CdM.
London-based Euromoney Magazine belongs to the group of the world's most influential financial magazines, which publishes global information for financial experts and top managers since 1969. Since 1992, Euromoney has been granting the Awards for Excellence, and this year it received nearly 1,000 applications from banks in a reward program covering 20 global, 50 regional awards and best bank awards in almost 100 countries.
The "Bank of the Year" award, which this magazine awards, is considered one of the most prestigious international awards in the field of finance and banking.
Read more about the business environment in Montenegro at TMN's dedicated page.
