Bank of Valletta registers €49.1 pre-tax interim profit

The Bank of Valletta Group has recorded a profit before taxation of €49.1 million for the six months ended 31 March 2012, and declared a gross interim dividend of 6c per cent, an increase of 8% over last year's interim dividend of 5c55 per share.

This compares with pre-tax profits of €45.2 million earned in the first six months of the previous financial year.

Fair value movements for the period show a small gain of €0.5 million compared with a charge of €5.6 million recorded in the first half of the previous year.

The share of profits from insurance interests amount to €1.6 million, compared with €3.8 million for the same period last year, reflecting the difficult investment conditions that prevailed in the second half of calendar 2011, the bank said.

Total assets stood at €6.7 billion over €6.6 billion in September 2011, while equity attributable to bank shareholders amounted to €488.8 million, up from €473.2 million. Loans and Advances, net of impairment allowances, stood at €3.69 billion, an increase of €87 million from the position as at September 2011, reflecting the subdued demand for credit experienced during the period.

The ratio of non-performing loans improved to 4.1% of gross advances over 5.1%.

The bank said that customer deposits, standing at €5.62 billion were up €94 million since September, with modest growth being experienced in both the retail and institutional sectors.

Overall, deposits increased by €434 million or 8.4% while the bank's liquidity ratio remained strong at 49%, with minimal use being made of inter-bank funding.

At 68.7%, the loans-to-deposit ratio changed little from September 2011. Core Tier I Capital stood at 10.8% (10.5%), whilst total overall capital ratio position was a 15.4% (14.9%). Return on equity for the period was 20.4%.