The assets and lending activity of banks continued to grow in the first quarter of 2026, but profits fell compared with the same period last year, according to banks’ financial statements.

Nineteen banks operating on the Serbian market generated a combined profit of around €350 million (41.1 billion dinars) in the first three months of the year, which is €56 million less than in the same period of 2025. A slowdown in profitability alongside very strong lending growth was already visible last year, and a similar trend has continued this year.

For example, bank lending increased by 2.5 per cent in the first quarter, reaching nearly €36 billion (€35.9 billion), according to an analysis by Bankarski Monitor. At the same time, the total assets of all banks operating in Serbia rose by 2.3 per cent during the first three months, reaching €61 billion.

Interestingly, Alta Bank, owned by Davor Macura, was the fastest-growing bank in Serbia. In 2025, it ranked first in terms of asset and deposit growth and third in terms of loan growth.

It maintained a similar pace in the first quarter of this year. This small bank, with only a 2.7 per cent market share, recorded the largest absolute increase in loans during the first three months – 16.3 billion dinars. Much larger UniCredit Bank ranked second with 14.4 billion dinars, followed by Poštanska Štedionica with an increase of 14.3 billion dinars.

However, Alta Bank recorded a significant decline in profit in 2025 and in the first quarter of 2026. Compared with the same period last year, the bank’s profit fell from 950 million dinars to 140 million dinars (around €1.2 million), a drop of as much as 85 per cent. This represented the largest percentage decline in profit in the entire banking sector during the first quarter.

Banca Intesa, the largest bank on the domestic market, posted the highest profit in the first three months, amounting to €69 million. Raiffeisen Bank ranked second with €66.8 million, although it should be noted that, according to the quarterly income statement published on the website of the National Bank of Serbia, the Austrian bank had already accounted for profit tax, whereas the Italian-owned Intesa had not.

After the first three months, Hungary’s OTP Bank ranked third in terms of profit with €50 million, while UniCredit Bank came fourth with €48 million. They were followed by AIK Banka with €25 million, Poštanska Štedionica with €16 million, and Erste Bank with €11.8 million.

Two banks reported losses during this period: Mirabank, with a loss of €122,445, and Yettel Bank, with a loss of €926,823. It is also interesting that 3Banka paid more in fees than it collected during this period, resulting in a loss of €33,475 on that basis, although this was offset by earnings from interest income amounting to €8.2 million.

It should also be noted that 11 banks recorded lower profits in the first quarter of 2026 compared with the same period in 2025, while eight banks posted profit growth.

As for size and market share, certain changes occurred. Intesa remained in first place with assets worth €9.3 billion and a market share of 15 per cent. OTP Bank followed with a 14 per cent share, although it approved the largest volume of loans in Serbia.

Raiffeisen Bank remained in third place with a market share of almost 11 per cent. NLB Komercijalna Banka climbed to fourth place, overtaking both AIK and UniCredit. Specifically, NLB recorded the largest increase in assets during the first three months, as much as 48.3 billion dinars (just over €40 million). AIK ranked fifth, while UniCredit came sixth. According to the Bankarski Monitor analysis, both banks recorded a decline in assets during this three-month period.

Austria’s Erste Bank also posted strong asset growth during the quarter, amounting to 25 billion dinars, while Intesa’s assets grew by 24.8 billion dinars.

Adiko Bank also recorded substantial asset growth, increasing by 13.8 billion dinars. The bank is particularly interesting because it could become a takeover target for Alta Bank. According to reports in Austrian media, Raiffeisen Group’s offer to acquire shares in Adiko Bank may succeed, and under an agreement between Raiffeisen and Alta, Macura’s bank would accept Raiffeisen’s offer as one of Adiko’s largest shareholders. Alta would then take over Adiko’s operations in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro, while Raiffeisen would retain operations in Slovenia, Croatia, and Austria. This would once again block the entry of Slovenia’s NLB Bank into the Croatian market, which has remained inaccessible to it since the breakup of Yugoslavia.

The five largest banks control 61.4 per cent of total assets, while the top ten banks control as much as 91.95 per cent. This means that the remaining nine banks are effectively competing for scraps. This is also reflected in the distribution of profits. At the end of March, the largest bank accounted for nearly 20 per cent of the sector’s total profit, the top three banks generated 53 per cent, and the top ten banks accounted for as much as 94.6 per cent. In other words, the remaining nine banks earned just 5.4 per cent of the sector’s total profit.

(Danas, 29.05.2026)

https://www.danas.rs/vesti/ekonomija/profit-banaka-u-prvom-tromesecju-smanjen-krediti-nastavljaju-da-rastu/