Lombard posts close to €13 million in pre-tax profits

Lombard Bank Malta p.l.c. registered profits before tax of €12.93 million, notwithstanding difficult economic conditions, shareholders were told during the annual general meeting

Addressing the meeting, bank’s chairman Christian Lemmerich said Lombard continued to ensure that deposits entrusted to the Bank were employed safely while borrowing clients were helped to carry on their business in difficult economic circumstances.

The bank remained well capitalised with a capital adequacy ratio of 17 per cent, well above the regulatory minimum of eight per cent. The loan to deposit ratio was maintained at a solid level below 75 per cent so the bank was in a position to fund its lending activities without needing to rely on the interbank market.

Pre-tax return on capital employed was maintained at 20 per cent while net asset value increased from €1.65 to €1.81per share.

The chairman also informed shareholders that the investment made by the bank in MaltaPost was continuing to benefit both institutions. Despite subdued economic conditions worldwide, MaltaPost achieved increased profitability to a record €1.97 million as reflected in the group’s consolidated accounts.

During the meeting shareholders considered and approved an extraordinary resolution to amend the memorandum and articles of association to reflect recent changes in regulatory requirements and enhanced shareholder rights.

Shareholders also adopted a resolution declaring a final gross dividend of €0.10 per share to be received in new shares. The attribution price for the purpose of determining the new share allocation had been set at €3.04.

The bank’s board of directors is composed of Mr Lemmerich, Joseph M. Demajo, Graham A. Fairclough, Joseph Said, Dimitris Spanodimos, Christos J. Stylianides and Michael Zammit.