HSBC Malta recorded a pre-tax profit of €154.5m in 2024, the bank announced on Wednesday, promising that it would pay out the highest dividend in a decade to its shareholders.

The bank’s strong results come against the backdrop of its uncertain future, with its majority shareholder, HSBC Continental Europe, looking to sell.

Last week, HSBC Malta obtained approval from its shareholders to hand over potentially sensitive data to the bank’s prospective buyers, effectively setting the sale in motion.

But whispers about the bank’s future have seemingly had little effect on its performance, with pre-tax profits in 2024 marking a 15% jump (some €20m) over the previous year.

The increase is driven by a “higher interest rate environment, increase in customer activity and higher insurance subsidiary results,” the bank said.

This means that shareholders will receive a dividend payout of 51% of profits, at a rate of 12 cents per share. Together with an interim dividend paid out in September, the bank would have paid a dividend of 22 cents per share throughout 2024, more than at any point over the last decade, the bank said.

The best results in a decade, CEO Geoffrey Fichte says

In a statement, HSBC Malta CEO Geoffrey Fichte said that the bank’s results represent its “highest levels of revenue, profit, returns, dividends and investment in over a decade.”

The bank’s results indicate that deposits into the bank’s coffers were up by almost €17m in 2024, rising to €6,158m, mostly driven by retail deposits.

Meanwhile, the bank’s financial investments portfolio grew by 74%, reaching €2,291m.

And HSBC’s insurance arm, HSBC Life Assurance Ltd, also saw its profits more than double, from 2023’s €6.2m to €14.4m a year later.

“Looking ahead, we remain focused on growing and improving our business to support the dynamic needs of our customers and the community, while delivering strong returns to shareholders,” Fichte said.