During the first three months of 2018, HSBC Malta reported a decline in profit before tax compared with the same period in 2017.

However, CEO Andrew Beane insisted it was higher than envisaged in the bank’s strategic plan

“This decline was in line with management expectations and mainly reflected the effect of lower corporate loans and advances as reported in the bank’s 2017 annual accounts, continuing impact of low interest rates and prioritisation of risk management actions during 2017.

“Profit before tax in the first quarter exceeded the plan established as part of the bank’s new strategy approved by the board in February,” the bank said in a company announcement.

Read: HSBC Malta reports €49.8m profit in 2017, down 19.9% from 2016

Revenue for the period under review decreased compared with the first quarter of 2017 primarily as a result of lower revenue from the investment book and lower average balances in the corporate loan book, the bank said. Revenue was also impacted by lower sales in the insurance business.

Corporate non-performing exposures were reduced and non-performing loan balances in the first quarter of 2018 were lower overall.

Loans and advances to customers slightly increased compared with the position at the end of 2017.

Following completion of the strategic repositioning of HSBC’s Commercial Banking business, corporate lending stabilised in the first quarter of 2018 and the business aims to continue to build momentum behind the loan book growth, it said.

Malta is among the smaller HSBC operations that HSBC Holdings Plc chief executive officer John Flint and chairman Mark Tucker are considering pulling out of, according to Bloomberg.

The agency said that sources familiar with the discussions said Flint and Tucker were reviewing as many as a quarter of the 67 countries in which the bank operates. The options are to exit or sell "smaller consumer operations such as Bermuda, Malta and Uruguay.

The bank plans to update investors at or before its first-half earnings.