The Annual General Meeting of FIMBank was held at the Hilton Malta, St Julian’s, on 12 April. The strong turnout of shareholders considered and approved all the resolutions presented by the board of directors, including the annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 December, as well as the new board of directors.

Addressing the members, chairman Najeeb Al Saleh reported a record financial result for the group – a profit after tax of $7.6 million in 2006 compared to $2.7 million in 2005. This represents Earnings per Share of 8.83 US cents in 2006 compared to 3.34 US cents in 2005. The chairman commended the overall operating performance and business activity of the group, which grew to new levels and strengths.

Encouraged by the strong profit performance of 2006, and the overwhelming support for last year’s scrip debut, the board of directors again made a scrip dividend recommendation to the AGM of a net 3.5244 US cents per ordinary share, which the members approved.

The meeting then proceeded to consider and approve all the business presented to it, which included resolutions requesting: Consent of the shareholders for the disclosure of unpublished price-sensitive information, Authority to the directors to issue equity securities and to restrict or withdraw statutory pre-emption rights, Authority to the company to acquire its own shares and Changes to the Executive Share Option Scheme rules (2006 – 2009): new Executive Share Option Scheme rules applicable for the years 2007 – 2009.