Profit before Tax for the BOV Group for the third quarter of 2021 amounted to €20.6 million with profit before tax for the first nine months of 2021 totaling €46.5 million. This was announced during an online presentation to the media and leading stockbrokers by BOV Chairman Dr Gordon Cordina, Chief Executive Officer Rick Hunkin and Chief Finance Officer Izabela Banas.
This figure represents an increase of €5.9 million when compared to the same period last year. This improvement reflects the ongoing but as yet incomplete recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, further underpinned by encouraging economic activity. The Group’s revenues for the nine-month period were €172.1 million, up by 4% over the comparable period in 2020. This is mainly due to improved volumes in the retail sector, particularly in home lending, cards and payments.
Operating costs for the first nine months were slightly higher (1%) as compared to the same period in 2020. Net loans and advances to customers increased by 5.1% during the first nine months of 2021. Growth was reported in both business and home loans, with the latter being the main driver. Customer deposits have increased by 4% over the period, predominantly in shorter term deposits.
The strength of the Bank’s loan book is evidenced by a relatively stable Non Performing Loans (NPL) ratio of 4.3%, adequate provisions and suitable capital levels to withstand an adverse scenario. The Bank remains vigilant in monitoring risks stemming from the long-term economic impact of COVID-19, and other emerging risks in the global economic scenario.
A net impairment reversal of €3 million in the third quarter reflected a revised macroeconomic outlook positively affecting the expected performance of specific sectors and individually significant exposures. During the quarter, an impairment charge of €1.8 million was taken with respect to long outstanding non-performing loans, supporting the Group’s prudent approach. Increased efforts to boost recoveries from past debts have continued to yield results. The Bank continues to actively assess its expected credit losses as economic prospects evolve. Against these developments, the Group retains a cautious outlook for the remainder of the year, especially in respect of its stance towards credit provisioning.
The share of results from insurance associates was significantly better than last year, largely driven by an increase in market value of investments and higher written premia.
The Bank is furthermore reviewing potential risks arising from the placement of Malta in the FATF grey-list. We are sustaining and reinforcing our efforts on a number of complex and wide-ranging projects to meet regulatory expectations in a period of continued rapid de-risking and investment in compliance activities at the level of the jurisdiction.
The Bank maintained its vigilance and engagement with respect to risks emanating from long-dated litigation events.
The Bank is increasing its focus on the ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) agenda to embed it within the organisation’s framework in order to improve the well-being of people and protection of the environment, and to support our customers in the transition to a sustainable future.
Strategy BOV 2023 Update
The Group continued to invest in the BOV 2023 Strategy, the benefits of which will be reaped in future years as the Bank becomes more resilient, digitalised and enabled to deliver sustainable growth.
The BOV 2023 Strategic Transformation continues to deliver step changes in line with the BOV 2023 goals. Key milestones achieved include organisational changes and improved customer focus underpinned by extensive training provided to our front-office staff, implementation of streamlined systems in our credit management, wealth management and on-boarding processes. The Bank continues to see significant reductions in over-the-counter transactions with a sustained customer migration to the use of its self-service machines and electronic payments. These changes will enable the Bank to be more effective in meeting customer’s banking needs.
