APS Bank registers a 35% rise in profit before tax

APS Bank registered a profit before tax of €8.1 million in 2010 compared to €6 million in the previous year. Total assets increased by €63.2 million reaching a high of €786.6 million. This expansion was mainly supported by a rise of €60.4 million in customer deposits.

Announcing the bank’s financial results APS chairman Emanuel Delia, said: “We delivered an improved performance against a backdrop of a slowly recovering economy in the Maltese Islands and a tougher competition in the financial services sector.”

The subsidiary APS Consult Ltd, the bank’s consultancy arm, continued to support the creation and strengthening of social networking in the Maltese Islands in part through cooperation with entities coming from the EU and operating in other parts of the world.

During 2010, the first fund launched by APS Funds SICAV plc, the other bank’s subsidiary, grew by 48.1 per cent to €20.4 million.

The Annual Report and Financial Statements for 2010 were presented during the bank’s AGM. This year, a special edition of this report was produced as part of the bank’s celebrations of its centenary. Together with the financial information, this publication boasts a résumé of the bank’s rich history and cites numerous social activities taken at a corporate level during previous years.

In 2010, the bank inaugurated the APS Centre in Birkirkara and its new offices at Victoria. Recently, the bank’s branch network was widened by two new mini-branches in Sliema and Qormi and a new outlet in Rabat. Prof. Delia explained that the bank has already noted encouraging results in these localities. Indeed, the operational investment that has been made is bearing fruit, and the bank expects this favourable effect will continue in the years to come.

2010 was also marked by important events such as the organisation of the Annual General Meeting of the European Federation of Ethical and Alternative Banks and Financial Institutions, preceded by a half-day international conference on Microcredit As A Tool Of Ethical Financing For Sustainable Development.

A series of events to celebrate the bank’s 100 years of community banking were also organised, including an exhibition about APS Bank’s origins and development throughout the years and the production of a limited edition silver medal by local designer Noel Galea Bason to commemorate this important milestone.