Profit of banks cut in half - 13 banks registered losses in first half of year

- The banking sector of Serbia registered 8.75 billion RSD worth of profit before taxation in the first half of the year, which is 58.1% less than in the same period in 2008 when the profit amounted to 20.89 billion RSD - the National Bank of Serbia announced. In the first six months of this year, 13 banks registered losses.

At the end of the second quarter, total of 34 banks operated in the market and had total of 31,715 employees. When compared to the end of year 2008, number of employees was additionally reduced by 2%, that is, 627 people. Total of 19 banks cut the number of workers - Alpha Bank dismissed 175 people, OTP Bank laid off 106 employees, Komercijalna Banka fired 98 workers, while 12 banks hired new employees - Societe Generale increased the number of workers by 16, AIK Bank employed 13 new people, while Hypo Alpe Adria Bank got 12 new employees.

At the end of the second quarter of year 2009, two banks had the market share larger than 10%: Banca Intesa - 14.8%, and Komercijalna banka - 10.2%.