Post-merger Porfitability of Greek Banks in the Serbian Banking Market

The subject of this paper is the analysis of the profitability of the four Greek banks in the period after their entry into the Serbian banking market, starting from 2005 until the end of 2016, when the three of them already abandoned or announced the cessation of business in Serbia. The conducted research includes a brief analysis of the methods and procedures of foreign banks' entry into the domestic financial system, which was primarily realized through the processes of the Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A). In the observed period, four Greek banks - Alpha Bank, National Bank of Greece (NBG), Eurobank (formerly EFG Eurobank) and Piraeus Bank made significant market share in the first two to three years of operation and relatively favorable post-merge business performance. However, very soon after the outbreak of the global economic crisis, and especially the crisis in Greece and several EU countries, the profitability of this group of banks is falling. The goals of the paper are to investigate the facts regarding the performance of Greek banks within the Serbian banking sector, primarily in terms of the level of realized profitability.