APS Bank reports strong Q1 2026 results, as revenues rise and profits triple

APS Bank plc has announced the publication of its financial results, extracted from the Consolidated and Bank unaudited management accounts for the three months ended 31 March 2026, as presented to the Board of Directors on 30 April 2026.

For the period under review, APS Bank plc registered a 208% increase in pre-tax profit at Bank level to €11.1 million (1Q2025: €3.6 million), and €9.8 million at Group level (1Q2025: €2.9 million). These figures demonstrate financial management and resilience at their best, with profitability rising on the back of sustained revenue growth and efficient cost management, primarily driven by enhanced margins and further supported by higher business volumes.

Interest income for the period under review amounted to €33.6 million, an increase of €4.0 million, or 13.4%, on 1Q2025. This was mainly attributable to higher income from loans and advances (up by €1.7 million) and debt securities (up by €2.3 million), compared to the corresponding period.

Concurrently, net interest margins reached €24.6 million, a significant increase of €7.9 million or 47.6% over 1Q2025. This jump is due to higher returns on our interest-yielding assets, coupled with a shift in the funding mix which saw interest expense drop to €8.9 million, or €4.0 million less than the corresponding period. During 1Q2026, the Group’s Net Interest Margin (NIM) reached 2.2%, a notable improvement over the 1.6% in the same quarter last year.

Net fee and commission income rose to €2.8 million (1Q2025: €2.5 million), reflecting overall loan growth and higher revenues from investment services and transactional banking services.

Net impairment losses of €1.1 million mark an increase of €0.7 million on 1Q2025, reflecting credit-related charges on loans across all three IFRS 9 stages within both the domestic and international syndicated loan portfolios. The Group’s Non-Performing Loan (NPL) ratio remained at historic low levels and stable at 1.3%.

Operating expenses for the period of €16.4 million are up by €0.4 million on 1Q2025, primarily driven by higher staff costs of €1.1 million and partly offset by a drop of €0.9 million in administrative expenses (in 2025 there were €1.1 million of non-recurring due-diligence and advisory costs incurred in the process of the then-abandoned HSBC Malta acquisition). The Bank continues to invest in talent, technology and operational resilience, to support its long-term development ambitions, while maintaining overall cost discipline.  Cost-to-income ratio for the period under review fell below 60% to 59.7% (1Q2025: 83.7%).

Financial Position

Total assets grew to €4.72 billion, an increase of €71.3 million on 31 December 2025 and principally attributable to the following key drivers:

• Retail and business lending reached €3.49 billion, expanding by €112.6 million on 31 December 2025 which growth was partially offset by a decrease in loans to banks of €12.4 million.
• Holdings of debt securities rose by €29.0 million, reflecting a prudent approach to treasury portfolio development and an ongoing commitment to enhancing returns while operating within established risk parameters.

Total liabilities rose to €4.35 billion, an increase of €69.7 million on 31 December 2025 and principally attributable to the following key drivers:

• Customer deposits grew by €56.8 million over the period, evidencing continued expansion aligned with the Bank’s broader everyday banking strategy.
• Notably, the deposit base underwent a marked rebalancing, with funds migrating from term deposits towards overnight, demand and savings accounts.
• This shift facilitated a more efficient deployment of operating balances and contributed to a sustained reduction in the Bank’s cost of funding on a month-on-month basis.

Total equity at 1Q26 stood at €363.9 million, up by €1.6 million on 31 December 2025 as the post-tax profit for the period of €5.9 million was compensated by unrealised adverse movements in the fair values of debt securities due to market corrections during the period under review.