The annual general meeting of Lombard Bank Malta was held at the Chamber
of Commerce, Republic Street, Valletta,
last week. Dr Gianfilippo Maiga, who was deputising for the chairman of the board, Mr C. Lemmerich, announced a record profit after tax, of Lm1·558 million, compared to Lm1·393 million for the 15 months ended 31 December 2003. When compared to an analysed profit for the preceding accounting period this works out at an impressive 39·8 per cent.
The meeting approved the directors’ recommendation to pay a dividend of 15c per share and at the same time called on members to approve the option of receiving the dividend either in cash or by the issue of new shares.
In a company announcement issued some weeks ago, the bank had announced that the attribution price for the purpose of determining the new share allocation had been established at Lm4·192.
By means of a separate resolution the shareholders also approved the re-appointment of KPMG as auditors of the bank as well as the remuneration of the directors for the holding of their office.
The chairman of the meeting gave a detailed overview of the performance of the bank for the financial year ended 3 December 2004.
A healthy interest margin was maintained throughout the year and Cost-to
Income ratio remained below the 50
per cent mark, which by international standards is also considered a low level. The Solvency Ratio calculated in terms of the Banking Directives stands at 18·9 per cent against regulatory requirement of eight per cent.
Shareholder’s funds have now increased to Lm13·300 million (Lm11·645 million as at 31 December 2003).
The chairman stated that the bank has achieved remarkable rates of growth and continues to operate within a robust financial framework. He said that the bank remains well positioned to meet ongoing challenges arising from a liberalised economic environment.
The board of directors is made up of Joseph Demajo, Graham Fairclough, Christian Lemmerich, Dr Gianfilippo Maiga, Joseph Said, Vittorio Vellano, and Michael Zammit.