Lombard Bank profit up 18%

Lombard Bank has reported a pre-tax profit of Lm4.57 million (€10.64 million) for the year ended 31 December 2007, an improvement of 18.1% over Lm3.87 million (€9.01 million) of the previous year.

Net Interest Income rose by 26.7% driven by growth of 23.9% in credit activity as well as continued effective treasury management.

Net Fees and Commissions increased by 5.3% following the growth in general volumes of business during the year.

Total Operating Income rose by 34.1% and include a share of postal sales and service since MaltaPost p.l.c. qualified as a subsidiary of the group as of 6 September 2007.

Administrative Expenses reached Lm2.89 million (€6.73 million) including the relative share of expenses of MaltaPost p.l.c

Shareholders’ Funds increased by 14.8% based on a post-tax profit of Lm3.03 million (€7.07 million) for the year.

Earnings per Share rose from 29.5 cents (€0.687) in 2006 to 35.3 cents (€0.822). Total Assets increased by 5.2% to Lm217 million (€505 million) from Lm206 million (€479 million) in the previous year.

The Board of Directors is proposing a final Gross Dividend of €0.40 (Lm0.1717) per nominal €0.582343 (Lm0.25) share for approval by the General Meeting. This represents a 37% increase over last year’s dividend. The Board will also be recommending that shareholders be given the option of receiving their dividend either in cash or by the issue of new shares.

The attribution price (at which the new shares to be issued will be determined) has been established at €12.60. Once approved by the Annual General Meeting, the dividend will be paid to all shareholders who are registered members on 20 March, 2008.