Shareholders also had the opportunity to meet the bank’s new chief executive officer, Shaun Wallis, who was introduced by HSBC chairman, Albert Mizzi and to ask questions of the management team about the bank.

HSBC’s Chief Operating Officer, Martin Wilkins, HSBC director, Dr Philip Farrugia Randon, together with HSBC’s company secretary, Dr George Brancaleone and the bank’s Chief Financial Officer, David Demarco, were also present along with other senior executives.

“HSBC is committed to listening to all its stakeholders, be they shareholders, customers or staff. We want to do our very best to remain the preferred bank and recognised for giving customers a fair deal and excellent service. HSBC feels that meetings with its shareholders provide a vital opportunity for feedback that is invaluable for an organisation that wants to build on its first five years of success in Malta,” Mr Wallis said.

Mr Wallis explained the continuing improvement in the underlying performance of the bank over the last three years. Particular emphasis was placed on the benefits resulting from the dual initiatives of freeing up time for front office staff to provide more and better services to customers and to the centralising of back office operations in a new centre in Qormi which was opened by the Prime Minister earlier this year.

Mr Wallis also discussed the increasing use of technology, which is helping HSBC to deliver a better service to customers through automation and electronic services and to the back office to improve processing and decision-making in support of the front office.

Some of the highlights mentioned included that 19,000 users have now subscribed to HSBC’s Personal Internet Banking Service since its launch in February and are undertaking over 340,000 transactions per month and increasing; the new Call Centre opened in November 2003 has taken some 337,000 calls and all 63 of HSBC’s ATMs have been replaced with new state-of-the-art machines and carrying over 430,000 transactions per month.

All this and other automated services reflected the substantial increase in business volumes which were being handled more efficiently and on a lower cost base.

“This increased financial performance had been reflected in an improved shareholder performance,” Mr Wallis added. In the last five years, HSBC’s shareholders saw an annualised flat rate return of 41 per cent per annum on their Lm2.70 per share investment in 1999, including the increase in share price and paid up dividends. Since June 1999, HSBC’s share price has increased by Lm4.78 from Lm2.70 to Lm7.48 and the bank’s market capitalisation had grown from Lm98m to Lm273 million and outperforming the MSE index.

Mr Wallis commented that “HSBC had a set of core values that underpinned its approach to business including ethical behaviour and a strong sense of corporate responsibility to its customers, shareholders, staff and to every community it operated in around the world. This year HSBC has spent some Lm170,000 on community events, sponsorship, donations and support with the total figure since 1999 exceeding the Lm500,000 mark. Contributing to the community is important to HSBC as a business operating in the community.

In 2004, HSBC has also already spent Lm100,000 on staff training with staff having attended some 3500 training days. Approximately 300 employees have taken part in HSBC’s global training programmes over the last five years. A significant number of staff had also been involved in the community and charity activities also.

“The meeting has been a really good opportunity for me to meet HSBC’s local shareholders for the first time and to listen to what they have to say about our bank. There are some 3,800 Maltese who own just under 30 per cent of HSBC Bank Malta with the balance held by the HSBC Group. As the world’s local bank, their views are really important and relevant to us at HSBC and many good suggestions have been made to us,” Mr Wallis noted.

“The bank is in good shape, on track and staffed by an excellent team. It will be a challenge to maintain the level of growth experienced recently but there are plenty of opportunities within our own customer base to do that. I have been in the HSBC Group some 26 years and I can tell the staff here are every bit as professional as any I have met around the HSBC Group, and I am quite confident they are capable of seizing those opportunities and meeting the challenges ahead,” Mr Wallis concluded.