Profit of Serbia amounts to RSD 437.2 billion in 2017 – Processing industry realizes best results

The profit of the Serbian economy amounted to RSD 437.2 billion in 2017, nearly twice as much as in 2016, when the profit amounted to RSD 187.4 billion, the Business Registers Agency announced yesterday.

– The high profitability of the economy in 2017 was achieved thanks to an increase in net profit by 32% to RSD 666.6 billion, but also a decrease in net loss by 27.8% to RSD 229.4 billion – said Ruzica Stamenkovic, registrar at the Register of Financial Statements.

She pointed out that companies in Serbia had been realizing profit for the third year in a row, but that the growth had slowed down in 2017 compared to a year before, standing at 4.8%, as opposed to 26.1% in 2016.

Trends in the foreign exchange market also contributed considerably to the growing profitability of the Serbian economy, according to her, as the profit from the more than a triple increase of foreign exchange gains (RSD 181.5 billion) amounted to RSD 37.4 billion.

Impairment charges and write-offs, as she added, also contributed to a higher profitability of companies, as the loss thereof amounted to RSD 41.1 billion, down by 62.5% compared to 2016.

In 2017, a total of 141,942 companies operated in Serbia, and statistical and other reports were submitted by 102,532 companies. Most of them operated with profit (59,131), and 26,592 operated with losses. A total of 1,073,557 workers were employed in all these companies, 34,456 more than last year.

The biggest profit was made in the processing industry – RSD 157 billion, and this sector also had the biggest number of employees – 340,923.

Public companies, of which there are 576, have been operating with profit in the past three years, with the profit amounting to RSD 29 billion in 2017, twice as much as in 2016. Of these, 421 public companies realized a net profit, whereas 135 reported net losses.

There were 1,979 fewer workers in public companies last year, bringing the number of employees down to a total of 118,115.

Analyses show that, in 2017, the southern and eastern Serbia stood out when it comes to the growth of positive results, with the profit up from RSD 1.3 billion in 2016 to RSD 33.8 billion in 2017.

Enterprises obliged to file reports to the Business Registers Agency, of which there are 17,382, had a total profit of RSD 7.9 billion last year, up 7.9% from 2016. They employed 50,955 workers, an increase by 2,794 compared to 2016.

A total of 50,524 legal entities didn't file 2017 reports to the Business Registers Agency, and the majority of them are not active. Assistant Minister of Economy Dusan Vuckovic said that the same companies had not been filing financial reports for years, while still being registered, despite not being operational and not having any employees.

He said that the amendments to the Company Law would more efficiently solve the shutting down of such companies.

According to Vuckovic, incentives for investments and employment allocated by the Ministry of Economy had been contributing to better business results of the Serbian economy in the previous few years.

– This Wednesday, April 25, 2018, a contests for the allocation of aid for the procurement of equipment and tools in the total amount of RSD 556 million will open – Vuckovic announced and explained that the help would amount to 25% of the procurement value, with 50% as credits.

Agencija za privredne registre Beograd

Ministarstvo privrede Republike Srbije

Business Registers Agency

Ministry of Economy

profit of Serbian economy

profitability of Serbian economy

Register of Financial Statements

Ruzica Stamenkovic

companies in Serbia

profit of companies in Serbia

foreign exchange gains

impairment charges

public companies in Serbia

Dusan Vuckovic

financial reports

Company Law

closing inactive companies

economy profit 2017