APS Bank has posted poor earnings yesterday for its third quarter of this year despite its grand ambitions to buy up HSBC Malta. Pre-tax profit for Q3 stood at €14.8 million, down from €23.6 million last year. The bank recorded decreasing profits from its lending activities in the backdrop of decreasing interest-rate environment. It made a higher profit on its investment portfolio recording a a €2.6 million profit up from €1.1 million in the same year. Its cost-to-income ratio stood at 70.8%, up from 62.8% in the same period last year.
APS Bank’s loan is also on the decline with the volume of its loans to its clients decreasing from €2.69 billion in 2023 to €2.92 billion in 2024 for Q3. The bank’s statements indicate that its market capitalisation is rising, but this seems to be mainly due to buying demand for its recently listed public shares on the Malta Stock Exchange rather than an increase in cash-generating activities.
CEO Marcel Cassar did not give any guidance on APS Bank’s future prospects and only said that the bank is “taking a broader view” on what he describes as the “interest-rate cycle”.
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