Lombard Bank made a pre-tax profit of €6.2m in the first half of this year, slightly more than the €6.1m for the same period last year.

"Economic conditions in Malta continued to be favourable as low-interest rates persisted and the property market remained strong. The bank continued to be selective in its customer relationships and committed to service only high-quality business," Lombard said in a statement.

It said improvement was registered across the board except for the ongoing decline of Letter Mail in subsidiary Maltapost.

Loans and advances to customers in the period rose by 6% contributing towards an increase of 9% in interest income. Customer deposits increased by 2% while the Group Net Interest Income for H1 2019 was up by 14% from €9.0m to €10.2m.

While operating costs remained under control, compliance obligations presented significant challenges both in terms of expense as well as human resources, it added.

Group Employee Compensation and Benefits rose by 8% and are expected to continue to increase given the highly competitive labour market.

See the full results here.