In 2010, APS Bank registered a strong financial and operational performance, with profit before tax of €8.1 million compared to €6 million in the previous year. Total assets increased by €63.2 million, reaching a high of €786.6 million. This expansion was mainly supported by a rise of €60.4 million in customer deposits, reflecting the unfaltering trust the bank enjoys with the Maltese community.
APS Bank chairman, Professor Emanuel P. Delia, remarked at this week’s annual general meeting, “We delivered an improved performance against a backdrop of a slowly recovering economy in the Maltese Islands and a tougher competition in the financial services sector.”
The subsidiary APS Consult Limited, the bank’s consultancy arm, continued to support the creation and strengthening of social networking in the Maltese Islands, partly through co-operation with entities in the EU and operating in other parts of the world. During 2010, the first fund launched by APS Funds SICAV plc, the other subsidiary of the bank, grew by 48.1 per cent to €20.4 million. The fund is suitably positioned to safeguard the best interests of the investors by maximising the rate of return while minimising the volatility of the portfolio.
The annual report and financial statements for 2010 were presented during the AGM. This year, a special edition of this report was produced as part of the bank’s celebrations of its centenary. Together with the financial information, this publication has a résumé of the bank’s rich history and cites numerous social activities taken at a corporate level during previous years.
In 2010, the bank opened the APS Centre in Birkirkara and its new offices in Victoria, Gozo. Recently, the bank’s branch network was enlarged with the addition of two new mini-branches in Sliema and Qormi and a new outlet in Rabat. Professor Delia explained that the bank has already seen encouraging results in these localities. Indeed, the operational investment made is bearing fruit, and the bank expects that this favourable effect will continue in the years to come.
2010 was also marked by important events such as the organisation of the annual general meeting of FEBEA (the European Federation of Ethical and Alternative Banks and Financial Institutions), preceded by a half-day international conference on “Microcredit as a Tool of Ethical Financing for Sustainable Development”. A series of landmark occasions that fittingly characterised the celebrations of the bank’s 100 years of community banking were also organised, including an exhibition about APS Bank’s origins and development throughout the years and the production of a limited edition silver medal by local designer Noel Galea Bason to commemorate this important milestone. Professor Delia expressed his gratitude to all stakeholders for their support and hard work in getting the bank to its present standing.