HSBC's posts Lm20m mid-year profits

HSBC Bank Malta has registered a pre-tax operating profit of Lm19.9 million in the first half of 2004, an increase of 56.5 per cent over the same period last year, the bank said yesterday.

In a meeting on Thursday, the bank's board of directors approved a gross interim dividend of 19.4c per share and, additionally, a special dividend of 35.4c per share, giving a total gross interim dividend of 54.8c per share.

This special dividend marks the fifth anniversary of HSBC Bank Malta and the payment of Lm8.4 million this represents is covered by current year earnings, the bank said.

Chairman Albert Mizzi said the interim results were obtained despite a relatively weak economic climate. "These excellent results reflect good growth in both net interest income and non-interest income, bolstered by significant one-off recoveries from loan impairments recovered from provisions for bad debts set aside in previous years and other one-off gains from securities holdings."

Martin J. Wilkins, director and chief operating officer, called the results very encouraging and said the bank was looking forward to seeing an economic recovery, both locally and abroad, which drive its business and income growth.

"Our focus for the second half of 2004 is to continue to improve the high quality of service we provide to our customers and to grow our core lines of business. This means allocating resources to those areas that offer the greatest opportunities for growth while developing our expense discipline and risk management."

The directors noted at the board meeting that HSBC Bank Malta was "now well and truly integrated into the global HSBC group with the Maltese management team and staff complement performing exceptionally well and meeting the HSBC Group's highest international standards".

It was also announced that HSBC has been named The World's Best Bank by Euromoney, one of the world's leading financial magazines. The award, which is decided by the magazine's editorial board, was presented during Euromoney's annual Awards for Excellence.

"Euromoney's Awards for Excellence are a benchmark of the global banking industry, spanning over 80 individual countries. Now in their 13th year, the awards recognise the finest banks across the world in a range of disciplines, including debt, mergers and acquisitions, equity and cash management. Everyone at HSBC is clearly delighted that the bank has been named as the best in the world,' Mr Wilkins said.