The 2006 annual general meeting of Lombard Bank Malta was held at the Chamber of Commerce, Republic Street, Valletta, on Tuesday.

During the meeting the shareholders approved the financial statements of the group for the year ended 31 December 2005. These statements show a record profit before tax of Lm3.666 million, compared to Lm2.542 million for the 12 months ended 31 December 2004.

The meeting approved the directors’ recommendation to declare a dividend of 20c per share representing a gross payment of Lm841,072 (net Lm546,697), either in cash or with the issue of new shares.

In a company announcement issued some weeks previously, the bank had announced that the attribution price for the purpose of determining the new share allocation had been established at Lm8.374.

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 for directors.

The meeting also approved the Extraordinary Resolution to set the nominal value of the ordinary shares at twenty-five cents (25c) each, so that the authorised share capital of the bank of five million liri (Lm5,000,000) is now made up of twenty million (20,000,000) ordinary shares of twenty-five cents (25c) each and the number of shares making up the issued and fully paid up share capital amounts to eight million, four hundred and ten thousand seven hundred and twenty (8,410,720) ordinary shares.

The board of directors is made up of Mr C. Lemmerich (chairman), Mr J.M. Demajo, Mr G.A. Fairclough, Dr G. Maiga, Mr J. Said, Mr V. Vellano, and Mr M. Zammit.

The bank’s performance remains one of consistent and steady growth despite the fact that the two main banks in Malta provide stiff competition that include a vast array of modern and sophisticated financial products. It seems however that there is a general demand for smaller players such as Lombard Bank that seems to satisfy a growing need for tailored and personalised services.

The performance of Lombard Bank on the Malta Stock Exchange has also been remarkable as the share price has more than doubled in less than 12 months, with shares exchanging hands at Lm11 each on Wednesday.