Lombard Bank Malta plc - Interim Directors’ Statement

On 15 November, Lombard Bank Malta plc published its Interim Directors’ Statement updating the market on its performance since the half-year end on 30 June 2013.

The Directors explained that interest margins remained healthy leading to a positive operating income trend. Furthermore, the results of the Bank’s postal subsidiary, MaltaPost plc, are not expected to vary significantly except for the non-recurrence of the previous year’s one-off gains. Nonetheless, the profitability of the Lombard Group is anticipated to be adversely affected by higher credit impairment allowances following reviews of specific sectoral exposures in the context of anticipated changes in local and European regulation.

Furthermore, the Bank reported that it continues to maintain a strong balance sheet with liquidity and capital adequacy ratios comfortably exceeding regulatory and prudential requirements. The Bank did not experience any material change in both its loan book and deposit base and the loan to deposit ratio remains very satisfactory.