October 1 (SeeNews) - The net profit of Bosnia's Serb Republic banking sector fell by 5% on the year to 50.9 million marka ($28.4 million/26.0 million euro) in the first half of 2019, the entity's banking agency, ABRS, said.
The banks' net interest income grew 2% to 115.5 million marka in the period under review, ABRS said in a report on the performance of the banking sector in the Serb Republic published last week.
The total income of the banks in the Serb Republic edged down 0.3% on the year to 222.9 million marka in January-June, while total costs also decreased, by 0.2% to 167.2 million marka.
The sector's non-performing loan (NPL) ratio declined to 8.7% at the end of June from 9.54% at end-December.
The banks' total net assets amounted to 9.011 billion marka as at end-June, up 3% compared to the end of 2018.
A total of 8 banks operated in the Serb Republic at the end of June.
Banja Luka-based Nova Banka was the largest bank in the Serb Republic in terms of assets at end-June, followed by UniCredit Bank Banja Luka and NLB Banka Banja Luka.
The Serb Republic is one of the two autonomous entities forming Bosnia and Herzegovina. The other one is the Federation.
(1 euro = 1.95583 marka)
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