Izola Bank said today that its €7,000,000 in five-year Secured Notes of a nominal value of €1,000 bearing an interest rate of 5.35% per annum were over-subscribed.

Subscriptions in excess of €14 million were received. Due to the high demand, the issue was increased by €2 million.

It said that subscriptions not exceeding €2,000,000 would be met in full and subscriptions in excess of €2 million would be satisfied by the allocation of €2 million and a further 39.32% of the remaining balance , rounded down to the nearest thousand.

Interest on the notes will commence as from today. The notes are expected to be listed on the Malta Stock Exchange by not later than 28 June and trading to commence on 30 June 2010.

The proceeds from these Secured Notes will be principally used to support the general growth of the bank and specifically to further the bank's factoring and lending activities.

"We are very satisfied with the positive response and we thank the financial intermediaries and institutions for the trust that they have placed in Izola Bank. We are proud to be listing the first securitisation of its nature on the Malta Stock Exchange.," said Mr. Andrew Mifsud, General Manager of Izola Bank.

Izola Bank is a fully owned subsidiary of the Van Marcke trading and manufacturing group of Belgium. With a turnover of €400 million in 2008, the group operates in Belgium, France, the Netherlands, the US, Switzerland and Luxembourg. It was established in 1929 and currently employs over 1,600.