SID banka, the state-owned export and development bank, generated a net profit of EUR 8.5m in the first six months of 2012, preliminary data show. In the first half of last year, the bank’s net profit reached EUR 6.5m.
SID increased total assets by EUR 100,000 to EUR 4.1bn in the January-June period, mostly on account of loans.
»During the crisis – since 2010 – the role of SID bank in the Slovenian banking system in terms of total assets has almost tripled,« Jožef Bradeško, a member of the SID board, told a press conference in Ljubljana on Tuesday.
Investment insurance deals amounted to EUR 573m at the end of June, and the bank expects to catch up with last year’s figure (EUR 1.203bn) by the end of the year.
SID collected EUR 3.2m in premiums, while it paid out EUR 1m in damages in the first six months, which is more than in the same period last year. But the bank increased provisions, which amounted to EUR 133.3m at the end of June, Bradeško noted.
He said the bank’s main activity was the financing of technological and development projects, which was to continue into 2013. Apart from that, it has also started providing loan guarantees to established exporters.
Also new is the financing of investment projects of municipalities, while the bank plans to offer new eco loans to individuals in the future.
Asked whether SID would be merged into the planned Slovenia Sovereign Holding,
Bradeško said he had no official information on this.
»Putting all state assets into one place is probably a good idea, but the question is how to manage it«,he said, adding that SID had a specific role and could not be treated like all other state-owned companies.