Meeting of the Governing Board of the Bank of Slovenia of 20 April 2010

On 20 April 2010 the Governing Board of the Bank of Slovenia discussed and approved the Bank of Slovenia's annual report for 2009. The Bank of Slovenia's audited financial statements for the year 2009, compiled in accordance with the legal framework for accounting and financial reporting in the European System of Central Banks (ECB/2006/16) and approved by the Governing Board of the Bank of Slovenia on 16 March 2010, represent an integral part of the annual report.

In its profit and loss account for 2009, the Bank of Slovenia is disclosing a profit in the amount of EUR 103.6 million.

The main source of the Bank of Slovenia’s income represents interest income from its investments in securities and deposits. Claims related to monetary policy instruments also yielded significant interest income. Net interest income amounted to EUR 116.8 million in 2009 (2008: EUR 118.4 million).

Realised gains, valuation losses and provisions were together negative in the amount of EUR 17.2 million (2008: EUR -123.5 million). Realised gains on the sale of securities and currencies amounted to EUR 62.8 million (2008: EUR 2.8 million), valuation losses to EUR 15.2 million (2008: 119.1 million), and provisions to EUR 64.9 million (2008: EUR 7.2 million). The favourable result in this income category coincides with a rise in security prices to the level seen prior to the outbreak of the financial turmoil.

Net fees, commissions and other income stood at EUR 33.6 million in 2009 (2008: EUR 5.5 million). This amount includes income from the release of provision for covering risks in Eurosystem monetary policy operations totalling EUR 7.9 million. The latter (provisions) are created in proportion to the shares in the capital of the ECB prevailing in the year, when counterparties failed to fulfil their obligations arising from monetary policy instruments (2008: EUR -26.3 million).

The Bank of Slovenia’s operating costs in 2009 amounted to EUR 29.7 million (2008: EUR 30.1 million). Labour costs were practically unchanged comparing to 2008, while material costs decreased for 9%. The bank’s total expenditure for costs and investments decreased for EUR 1.6 million in absolute terms comparing to 2008 million as a result of the active monitoring of expenditure and the savings measures introduced (2009: 29.7 million; 2008: EUR 31.3 million).

Pursuant to the second paragraph of Article 50 of the Bank of Slovenia Act, 25% of the financial result (EUR 25.9 million) is earmarked for the state budget. The remainder is transferred to the Bank of Slovenia's general reserves.

Unrealised gains from foreign exchange differences and securities amounted to EUR 66.5 million (2008: EUR 83.2 million). These gains are not included in the current financial result, but are disclosed in the valuation accounts on the right side of the balance sheet. They can only be used for covering future unrealised valuation losses from foreign currencies, gold or securities positions.

The Bank of Slovenia’s Financial statements for 2009 are due to be published on http://www.bsi.si/ in May 2010 as part of the Annual report.