APS Bank plc on Wednesday (today) announced that it has received approval from the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) for a €2 million interim net dividend distribution.

The dividend distribution was first announced when the bank’s interim report for the first half of 2024 (H1 2024) was published last month.

In the report, APS Bank had stated that its Board of Directors resolved to declare the payment of an interim net dividend of €2 million (gross dividend of €3,076,923), equating to €0.00527 per ordinary share (gross dividend of €0.00811 per ordinary share).

In its latest announcement, the bank stated that approval has now been granted, and the dividend will be paid to shareholders on 6th September 2024.

Shareholders appearing on the register of members maintained by the Central Securities Depository of the Malta Stock Exchange as at close of trading on 22nd August 2024 (last trading day is 20th August 2024) will be entitled to receive the dividend.

This interim dividend marks a slight decrease from the distribution announced in July 2023. That particular distribution was a €2.1 million scrip dividend, equating to €0.0056 net per ordinary share.

During H1 2024, APS Bank recorded a pre-tax profit of €10.1 million, a decrease of 39.9 per cent from the same period last year. This was primarily due to margin compression prompted by higher interest rate expenses, driven by a buildup of minimum requirement for own funds and eligible liabilities (MREL) late in 2023.

Despite this, APS Bank CEO Marcel Cassar noted that the bank’s corrective actions announced earlier this year to ease pressure on margins have “started to yield results” in the second quarter, with profitability improving while the bank’s pricing remained competitive.