Bank of Valletta Group said that it delivered a strong operating performance during the first nine months of 2026, reporting profit before tax of €189.6 million, broadly in line with €192.1 million in the corresponding period of 2025.

On the back of this performance, the Bank has raised the lower bound of its 2026 profit before tax guidance from €210 million to €230 million, while retaining the upper bound at €250 million.

The Bank said that operating income increased by 6.0% to €387.1 million, driven principally by a 10.6% increase in net interest income to €316.8 million. This reflected sustained growth across the Group’s customer lending and investment portfolios. Net fee and commission income remained resilient at €60.0 million.

It added that the modest year-on-year reduction in profit principally reflected the non-recurrence of specific income items recognised in 2025, together with continued strategic investment. The strength of the Group’s core operating performance largely absorbed these effects, with pre-tax return on average equity remaining robust at 16.7%.

It was noted that the Group continued to record broad-based balance sheet growth. Total assets increased by 7.4% to €17.8 billion, while customer deposits grew by 6.5%, to €14.6 billion, reinforcing the Bank’s stable and predominantly retail-funded deposit franchise.

Gross loans and advances increased by 9.9%, to €8.9 billion. Growth was recorded across all principal lending segments, with home loans increasing by 11.8%, business lending by 8.0% and personal lending by 8.6%. The gross loans-to-deposits ratio consequently increased from 59.0% to 60.9%, reflecting the more productive deployment of the Group’s funding base while maintaining substantial liquidity headroom.

Asset quality remained sound, the Group said, with the non-performing exposure ratio improving to 1.41% from 1.68% at December 2025. The Group said it also maintained strong capital and liquidity positions, with a CET1 ratio of 19.5%, a total capital ratio of 26.9% and a Liquidity Coverage Ratio of 401.8%, all comfortably above applicable regulatory requirements.

The Bank said that its strong performance and continued strategic progress have also been reflected in shareholder value. During the period, the share price reached €2.40, an increase of 27% since the beginning of the year, with the Bank’s price-to-book ratio reaching 1.0x and market capitalisation exceeding €1.54 billion. ”Trading activity remained strong, with more than €19 million in shares traded, an increase of over 21% year on year. Shareholders have also benefited from approximately €327 million in additional market value since the beginning of 2026, together with €33.6 million in net dividends distributed in respect of the first half of 2026.”

The Group’s performance during the first nine months ”has reinforced confidence in its full-year financial trajectory. Accordingly, the Bank is increasing the lower bound of its 2026 profit before tax guidance from €210 million to €230 million, while retaining the upper bound at €250 million,” it said.

Bank of Valletta concluded that it remains ”well positioned to continue supporting its customers and the Maltese economy while pursuing disciplined growth and delivering sustainable long-term value to shareholders.”

Photo: BOV

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