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Professor E.P. Delia, Chairman of APS Bank Ltd, presented the financial statement for 2005, at the Annual General Meeting, held this week. The Chairman announced a pre-tax profit of Lm3.2 million and described 2005 as “a very successful year for the Bank”.
Professor Delia said these results were achieved through ongoing improvements in business processes. The Bank’s performance, he said, was also marked with a high increase in business volumes, with customer deposits rising by Lm21.5 million. This sustained a growth in loans and advances to customers of Lm14.9 million and an increase in investments that reached Lm120.6 million.
Professor Delia said shareholders had achieved their objective of increasing the paid up share capital to Lm6.5 million, over a span of four years, by investing a further Lm0.5 million of fresh capital. The Bank was operating in a continually evolving environment, with increased competition brought about by a revamped regulatory framework and the advent of the Euro. The Bank was, therefore, adopting a strategy of versatility to meet these challenges.
Professor Delia said that by widening and improving its distribution channels, the Bank was set on improving the quality of the service it offered to clients, and on reaching new market segments. Accordingly, the Bank was constantly investing in state of the art technologies, while modernising its existing offices both in Malta and Gozo.
The Bank was driven by its corporate aims and unique social responsibility, and remained an active player in the Maltese community, Professor Delia said. The support that it offered to various deserving causes, and the diverse cultural, sports and social activities which it financed, proved this.
Professor Delia referred to the successful concert cycle and the subsequent launch of five CD recordings of the performances. He said this had encouraged the Bank to organise another series of sacred music recitals by 19th century Maltese composers. Last year, the Bank also stepped up its backing for Maltese talent, by launching three new books under the Fond ghall-Kittieba tal-Malti. APS Bank also supported a number of sports activities by the Malta Handball Federation, the Youth Football Association, the Malta Cycling Federation and the Malta Chess Federation, among others.
APS Bank, Professor Delia added, was determined to pursue its agenda to act as a catalyst for discussion, to offer specialised consultancy services and to instigate tangible actions in those sectors where it deemed that solidarity and social cohesion could be achieved in the interest of sustainable development. “This will be a prime responsibility of a subsidiary company that the Bank intends to set up,” Professor Delia concluded.
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