Am I satisfied with Bank of Valletta’s financial results? Not really.

An overall five per cent profit improvement should satisfy a normal shareholder, particularly when accompanied by an attractive dividend and a bonus share issue, both possibly adding a little to the MSE published price.

My problem has assumed almost compulsive proportions: I expect the bank to perform much better, being so solid a financial institution, Malta’s pride.

I look closely at the ‘core operating profit’, which to me matters most, and notice its decline by 14 per cent, clearly out of line with the rest of the domestic banking community. Not to mention also a deterioration in the ‘return on equity’. The reason?

Nothing but short-sightedness on the part of some members of the bank’s hitherto self-perpetuating board of directors who seem to have thwarted all efforts directed at solving the MM Property Fund fiasco they had been responsible for through sheer culpability in mis-investing the shareholders’ funds, certainly mis-selling to them.

One thing is for sure: not one vote from me or from those who usually seek my advice will go for any current director.