* From January 2024, the bank is required to pay a so-called "special levy", which has a significant negative impact on net profit after tax. The annual levy rate set by the legislation for the financial year of 2024 is 30%. On the other hand, the bank is not obliged to contribute to the National Resolution Fund in 2024, which only partially compensates for the introduction of the special levy.

Business performance overview of Slovenská sporiteľňa as of 31 December 2024

Net interest income went up by 8.8% y/y from EUR 523 million to EUR 568.9 million. The increase of net interest income was mainly supported by the growing loan portfolio in the retail segment and higher income from securities. On the other hand, the volume of deposit products (mainly term deposits and savings accounts in the retail segment) also grew, which translated into an increase of interest expenses for deposits and other financial assets.   

Net fee and commission income increased by 12% y/y from EUR 207.5 million to EUR 232.3 million. Income related to investments into mutual funds, commissions from brokerage of insurance, and an increasing number of payment transactions had a positive effect on net fee and commission income.

The bank recorded a net trading profit of EUR 18.6 million (it was EUR 21.6 million in 2023) which is mainly attributable to derivative transactions.

Operating expenses went up by 6.5% y/y to EUR 353.7 million (in 2023 it was EUR 332.1 million). Personal expenses increased by 8.3% y/y mainly because of wage growth caused by inflation. Other administrative expenses grew by 5.6% mainly because of higher investments into digitalisation and modernisation.

Operating profit went up by EUR 51.8 million, accounting for an increase of 12.2% y/y. Cost income ratio decreased considerably from 44% to 42.7% compared with last year.

The bank recorded a net impairment loss from financial instruments in the amount of EUR 13.1 million in 2024, compared to a loss of EUR 15.2 million in 2023. The share of non-performing loans on total loan volume remained at the level of 1.9% while their coverage with provisions decreased from 101.6% to 92.3%.  

The volume of loans products to customers (including loans, leasing and factoring) increased by 3.1% y/y and achieved EUR 19.5 billion. Retail loans grew by 4% (EUR 500 million). Housing loans grew by 3.5% (EUR 400 million in absolute terms) and consumer loans went up by 7.2% (EUR 110 million). Slovenská sporiteľňa again confirmed its position as market leader in retail loans; its market share in retail loans reached 24.6% at the end of December 2024.

Loans to corporate clients (including factoring and leasing products) increased by 1.3% y/y (by EUR 80 million) and reached EUR 6.8 billion.

Deposits from customers rose from EUR 17.6 billion to EUR 18.7 billion compared with the year 2023.