Serbia’s corporate earnings landscape is increasingly dominated by copper mining and telecommunications, with Serbia Zijin Mining reporting the highest EBITDA among the companies analysed in 2025, while state electricity utility Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS) and steelmaker HBIS Serbia recorded weaker operating performance.
- Copper Mining Strengthens Its Position in Serbia
- Telekom Srbija Overtakes EPS in Operating Earnings
- NIS Reports Lower EBITDA Amid Market and Ownership Uncertainty
- HBIS Serbia’s Operating Loss Highlights Steel Industry Pressures
- EU CBAM Adds Compliance Requirements for Industrial Exporters
- Aggregate EBITDA Rises to €20.6 Billion
- Investment Requirements Diverge Across Major Industries
Financial data compiled by CompanyWall showed that aggregate EBITDA across the companies covered rose 16.1% between 2023 and 2025 to approximately €20.6 billion. The increase was unevenly distributed, with mining and telecommunications generating strong results while petroleum, electricity and steelmaking faced operating pressures. Serbia Zijin Mining recorded approximately €1.37 billion in EBITDA in 2025, an increase of 84% compared with 2023. Telekom Srbija followed with approximately €946 million, overtaking EPS, whose EBITDA declined to around €803 million.
Copper Mining Strengthens Its Position in Serbia
The two Chinese-owned copper producers, Serbia Zijin Mining and Serbia Zijin Copper, generated approximately €2.02 billion in combined reported EBITDA. Serbia Zijin Copper contributed around €652 million, representing growth of approximately 184% from 2023.
Their operating earnings exceeded those of EPS and Telekom Srbija individually, placing copper mining among Serbia’s largest corporate profit centres. The results reflect the financial significance of copper and gold production in eastern Serbia, where mining operations are exposed to internationally traded commodities.
Copper demand is linked to electricity networks, renewable energy infrastructure, electric vehicles and industrial electrification, while gold provides an additional revenue source for operations with commercially recoverable deposits. Profitability nevertheless remains dependent on commodity prices, ore grades, recovery rates, production volumes and operating expenditure.
Mining companies also face substantial capital requirements, including underground development, equipment replacement, processing infrastructure, environmental management and mine rehabilitation. Strong EBITDA does not necessarily translate into equivalent free cash flow or distributable funds.
The broader domestic economic contribution of mining investment depends on taxation, procurement arrangements, reinvestment and the development of Serbian suppliers. Although strong operating results can support expansion, employment, infrastructure development and demand for local engineering services, the reported EBITDA of the two Zijin companies should not be treated as a formally consolidated figure without accounting for transactions between them.
Telekom Srbija Overtakes EPS in Operating Earnings
Telekom Srbija’s EBITDA increased by approximately 112% between 2023 and 2025, reaching €946 million. Over the same period, EPS recorded a decline of approximately 45%, bringing its EBITDA to around €803 million.
The contrasting results reflect different operating conditions across infrastructure-intensive businesses. Telecommunications operators generate recurring revenues from mobile, broadband, fixed-line and digital services, but must continue investing in network modernisation, fibre infrastructure, information technology and customer acquisition.
Telekom Srbija’s higher EBITDA does not, by itself, establish a stronger balance sheet or superior cash generation. Debt, financing costs, capital expenditure and liquidity remain important measures of its financial position.
For EPS, weaker operating earnings coincide with the need to finance generation reliability, environmental compliance and new electricity infrastructure. Serbia’s power system remains heavily dependent on coal-fired generation and hydropower, with thermal output affected by equipment condition, maintenance schedules, coal supply and operating performance. Hydropower production varies with water availability and hydrological conditions.
When domestic generation falls below demand, electricity imports can increase costs and expose EPS to regional wholesale market prices. The utility must therefore balance immediate supply requirements with investment in the modernisation of ageing assets. Its financial performance also affects manufacturing competitiveness through electricity prices and supply reliability.
NIS Reports Lower EBITDA Amid Market and Ownership Uncertainty
Petroleum company NIS recorded approximately €262 million in EBITDA in 2025, a decline of around 60% compared with 2023.
Its results reflect exposure to crude-oil prices, refining margins, product demand and operating costs. International commodity-price movements and regional market conditions can cause significant changes in refining profitability, while inventory valuation effects, processing efficiency and maintenance expenditure also influence financial performance.
NIS faces additional uncertainty associated with sanctions affecting Russian interests and its ownership structure. These developments can complicate financing, procurement, crude supply arrangements and long-term investment planning.
The EBITDA comparison alone does not establish how much of the decline resulted from sanctions, weaker refining margins or other operational factors. A more detailed assessment would require segment-level financial results and cash-flow information. NIS remains strategically important to Serbia because petroleum refining and distribution affect domestic fuel supply, transport costs and industrial activity. Its financial resilience therefore has implications beyond the company’s shareholders.
HBIS Serbia’s Operating Loss Highlights Steel Industry Pressures
While the two Zijin businesses generated approximately €2.02 billion in combined reported EBITDA, Chinese-owned steelmaker HBIS Serbia recorded negative EBITDA of around €70 million.
The contrasting results demonstrate that foreign ownership and access to international industrial networks do not necessarily produce comparable financial outcomes. Mining and steelmaking operate under different market conditions, with the former benefiting from valuable mineral deposits and favourable commodity prices, while steel producers face high energy consumption, volatile raw-material costs, production-utilisation challenges and international competition.
European steel markets have faced pressure from weak industrial demand, global overcapacity and trade-policy uncertainty. For HBIS Serbia, maintaining competitive production costs is particularly important given the expenditure required for energy, raw materials, maintenance and environmental systems.
Negative EBITDA indicates that operating performance was insufficient to cover the relevant operating cost base before depreciation and other excluded charges. It does not establish insolvency or an imminent closure. The company’s financial sustainability also depends on liquidity, shareholder support, debt obligations and future market conditions.
EU CBAM Adds Compliance Requirements for Industrial Exporters
The European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) introduces additional considerations for Serbian industrial exporters. Its definitive regime began in January 2026 and covers specified categories of imported goods, including iron and steel, aluminium, cement, fertilisers, hydrogen and electricity.
For Serbian producers exporting covered products to the EU, embedded-emissions calculations, verification requirements and potential carbon-related costs can affect commercial competitiveness. The financial implications depend on the applicable product category, emissions methodology, recognised carbon costs and contractual arrangements.
HBIS Serbia’s reported operating loss for 2025 predates the definitive regime and cannot be attributed directly to CBAM. However, the regulatory framework increases the importance of energy efficiency, emissions monitoring and reliable technical documentation. Industrial investors must assess whether production assets can remain competitive after environmental compliance and future investment requirements are taken into account. These considerations are also increasingly relevant to banks evaluating long-term credit risk.
Aggregate EBITDA Rises to €20.6 Billion
CompanyWall’s figures show that aggregate EBITDA across the companies analysed increased from approximately €17.8 billion in 2023 to €20.6 billion in 2025.
The reported ranking places Serbia Zijin Mining at €1.37 billion, followed by Telekom Srbija at €946 million, EPS at €803 million and Serbia Zijin Copper at €652 million. NIS generated approximately €262 million, while HBIS Serbia remained loss-making at the EBITDA level.
These figures illustrate changes in corporate operating profitability but do not constitute a ranking of investment returns. EBITDA excludes depreciation, financing costs, taxes and other items required for a comprehensive assessment of financial performance. Capital-intensive businesses can report substantial operating earnings while still requiring significant expenditure to maintain their assets. For lenders, free cash flow, leverage, interest coverage and liquidity remain critical indicators of debt-servicing capacity. For policymakers, the distribution of earnings raises questions about whether profitable companies are reinvesting sufficiently to support domestic productivity, employment and export competitiveness.
Investment Requirements Diverge Across Major Industries
The differences in operating performance have implications for Serbia’s next investment cycle. Mining companies with strong earnings may have greater capacity to finance expansion, although decisions remain dependent on commodity prices, project economics and shareholder priorities.
Telecommunications operators must balance network investment against debt and other financial obligations. EPS faces the cost of maintaining electricity security while modernising its generation portfolio, while NIS must navigate petroleum-market volatility and ownership uncertainty. Steelmakers, meanwhile, face pressure to improve efficiency and comply with increasingly demanding European industrial and environmental requirements.
These differences are relevant to Serbia’s banking sector and foreign investors assessing industrial competitiveness. Low labour costs and access to European markets do not guarantee profitability when energy expenditure, logistics, productivity or capital requirements undermine margins.
The comparison between copper mining and steelmaking is particularly significant because both are capital-intensive, export-oriented industries but operate under different economic conditions. Serbia’s industrial policy must therefore address not only the attraction of new investment but also the competitiveness of existing production assets, including reliable electricity, efficient transport infrastructure, skilled engineering personnel and technology investment capable of raising productivity.
