Lombard Bank Malta plc - Interim Results

On 29 August 2023, Lombard Bank Malta plc published its interim financial statements covering the six-month period ended 30 June 2023.

Net interest income increased by 25% to €12.7 million (H1 2022: €10.1 million) as the growth in gross interest income (+22% to €16.3 million) outweighed the higher level of interest expense (+10% to €3.57 million).

Likewise, non-interest income surged by 22% to €22.6 million reflecting the higher contribution from the Bank’s postal subsidiary – MaltaPost plc, which offset the drop in net fee and commission income and trading profits.

On the expenditure side, operating costs increased by 19% to €27.8 million amid higher employee compensation and other operating costs.

Lombard’s financial performance was also negatively impacted by a net impairment charge of €1.88 million in contrast to the net impairment reversal of €12.1 million in the first half of 2022. In this respect, the Bank noted that last year’s reversal was mainly attributable to a one-off significant recovery on a long outstanding non-performing loan.

Operating profit amounted to €5.54 million compared to €17.3 million in the same period last year. Excluding the impact of impairment provisions, operating profit surged by 43% to €7.4 million compared to €5.2 million last year.

After accounting for a tax charge of €2 million and non-controlling interests of €0.13 million, the net profit for the period attributable to shareholders of Lombard amounted to €3.25 million (H1 2022: €10.9 million).

The Statement of Financial Position as at 30 June 2023, when compared to the corresponding figures as at 31 December 2022, shows that total assets remained virtually unchanged at €1.21 billion with customer loans increasing minimally by 1.2% ( or €8.25 million) to €719.9 million. Total liabilities also remained practically unchanged at €1.06 billion, principally composed of an unchanged level of customer deposits at €1.01 billion. As a result of the marginal increase in customer loans, the loans-to-deposits ratio improved to 71.3% compared to 70.6% as at the end of 2022. Shareholders’ funds increased by 2.73% (or €3.72 million) to €139.9 million which translates into a net asset value per share of €1.509.

Outlook

In their commentary, the Directors of Lombard explained that demand for general banking services remained strong, particularly in commercial and retail credit. However, to continue to progress on delivering the planned strategic initiatives, Lombard needs to increase its capital base. The Board explained that Lombard will seek to increase its capital base by circa €50 million in an upcoming Rights Issue and further information relating to the Rights Issue will be announced shortly.