Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1496177
9 COMMERCIAL maltatoday | SUNDAY • 2 ARPIL 2023 MeDirect Bank announces solid business and financial results for 2022 MEDIRECT Group, an- nounced a profit after tax of €8.7 million in 2022. These results were achieved during a year in which the Group made significant progress in execut- ing its business transformation plan, including by further in- vesting in technology and de- veloping its Wealth SuperApp for retail customers in Malta and Belgium, expanding its mortgage offering and contin- uing to transform MeDirect's balance sheet. In 2022, MeDirect grew its re- tail customer base to 108,000, holding €4.2 billion of client financial assets, of which €1.4 billion were investments held in custody with MeDirect. Despite the challenging capital markets environment, MeDirect achieved wealth product pene- tration of 37% of its retail depos- itor base, with wealth customers holding an average of €58,000 in financial assets with MeDirect. MeDirect continues to operate with solid capital and liquidity ratios which exceed all regulato- ry requirements and recommen- dations. During 2023, MeDirect aims to offer more innovative solu- tions to democratise investing while expanding into its third European market, the Nether- lands. In investment services, MeDi- rect will scale its MeManaged service, launched at the end of 2022, which offers clients ac- cess to a fully digital and highly accessible discretionary man- agement service, managed by MeDirect, in partnership with BlackRock. New products are planned for 2023 that will further guide and support clients in their in- vestment journeys. MeDirect will also offer virtual and phys- ical cards, giving clients great- er ability to use MeDirect for their daily needs. Additionally, MeDirect plans to leverage its cutting-edge tech capabilities by offering its platform on a software-as- a-service basis to financial in- stitutions looking to launch or expand their digital wealth ca- pabilities. As noted in its 2022 annual report, MeDirect's strategic roadmap is based on four pil- lars: • Building the WealthTech platform, • Growing the retail fran- chise, • Derisking and diversify- ing the balance sheet, and • Strengthening the oper- ating model. MeDirect's efforts to estab- lish itself as a pan-European WealthTech leader were giv- en a significant boost by the deployment of its Wealth Su- perApp in both Malta and Bel- gium. The app provides customers, in one place, very convenient daily banking capabilities as well as a broad range of online investment solutions, with easy access to more than 5,000 fi- nancial investments, including approximately 1,750 mutual funds, 480 ETFs, 250 bonds and 3,000 equities, trading on 17 stock exchanges around the world. MeDirect continues to main- tain high levels of customer satisfaction, as evidenced by the fact that 90% of MeDirect customers who held an ac- count five years ago contin- ue to be customers today. In Belgium, MeDirect was rated third amongst Belgian banks for investment products by Spaargids.be. In 2022, MeDirect contin- ued to de-risk and diversify by growing its mortgage portfolio to €2 billion, of which €1.8 bil- lion are Dutch NHG (govern- ment guaranteed) mortgages and reducing its international corporate lending portfolio to €512 million, representing less than 11% of the total balance sheet as at the end of 2022. The mortgage portfolio is hedged against interest rate risk and is financed in part through MeDirect's Bastion mortgage securitisation programme. In partnership with Allianz Ben- elux S.A./N.V., MeDirect built its platform to originate Bel- gian mortgages, with €132 mil- lion of Belgian mortgages held on balance sheet at year end. In late 2022, MeDirect also launched a professional buy- to-let product in the Neth- erlands, in partnership with Build Finance, a Dutch buy-to- let specialist firm. In Malta, MeDirect has used innovative technology to set new standards in the Maltese mortgage market in relation to time-to-quote and time-to-ap- proval. By year-end 2022, MeDirect had originated €68 million of Maltese mortgages. MeDirect also continued to grow its suc- cessful Maltese corporate lend- ing and banking services busi- nesses. MeDirect strengthened its operating model by building its proprietary tech capabili- ties and improving efficiency. As one of its core competitive advantages, MeDirect owns the intellectual property of critical elements of its value proposi- tion. To date, over 28 million lines of code have been deployed. Notwithstanding significant investments in technology and product development, MeDi- rect has been able to maintain its fixed cost base almost flat from 2021. It has also opened a tech hub in Turkey to comple- ment its core team of develop- ers in Malta. MeDirect's commitment to ESG was reflected in MeDi- rect's Non-Financial State- ment, published together with its Annual Report and Finan- cial Statements. The statement details the ESG Strategy which has been adopted by the Group, the pro- gress achieved in 2022 and the various targets which MeDi- rect has put in place to ensure that it meets, amongst other objectives, the requirements set out in the Paris Climate Agreement. More information, including the full Annual Report and Fi- nancial Statements is available at https://www.medirect.com. mt/about-us/investor-rela- tions/ 2023 Alter Aqua project aims to restore historic underground reservoirs in the Three Cities THE fourth phase of the Al- ter Aqua project was launched with great success on Wednes- day 15 March 2023, in a confer- ence held at Esplora, Kalkara. Building on the achievements of the previous Alter Aq- ua phases (I – III), funded by The Coca-Cola Foundation through a number of grants totalling USD 1.4 million since 2011, this event brought to- gether several initiatives and ongoing projects promoting the use of Non-Convention- al Water Resources (NCWR) across the Mediterranean, ex- ploring their potential contri- bution to Malta's water secu- rity. The event was addressed by the Minister for Environment, Energy and Enterprise, Miri- am Dalli. Additionally, several prominent speakers from Al- ter Aqua's partners also took the stage, including Maria Mi- callef, CEO of GSD Marketing Ltd, Sofia Kilifi, Sustainability and Community Manager at The Coca-Cola Company, rep- resentatives from Global Water Partnership – Mediterranean, Manuel Sapiano, CEO of the Energy and Water Agency, and Glenn Bedingfield, Chairman of the Kottonera Foundation. The launch event attracted participants from different sec- tors, including the public and the private sector, academia and NGOs. Throughout the day, a range of thought-pro- voking presentations and panel discussions were organ- ised, providing a platform for stakeholders to express their views on the significance of rainwater harvesting and other NCWR applications, which, as was made clear by Mr. Sapiano, "are an absolute necessity for Malta, given the relative lack of naturally occurring freshwater resources." The 2023 Alter Aqua pro- gramme aims to restore his- toric underground reservoirs in the Three Cities that date back to the 17th century, es- tablishing a collaboration with the Kottonera Foundation and the local councils of the Three Cities. The reservoirs will be selected based on several fac- tors, including their use, size, accessibility, and cultural and historical value. This year, the Alter Aqua pro- gramme will also delve into the social aspect of water and will host a workshop for young stu- dents to help them learn about our water culture history and the importance of water con- servation. Additionally, the programme will include a cap- tivating "reservoir trail" in the Kottonera region, complete with conveniently placed QR codes. The primary objective of this trail is to provide visitors with a more interactive and engaging experience, allowing them to explore the invisible underground structure be- neath their feet. The reservoir trail is being developed in col- laboration with the University of Malta, and with the support of NGO Il-Ġibjun. Over the years, the Alter Aq- ua programme has benefited over 74,400 individuals in Mal- ta, conserving more than 19 million litres of water annual- ly, which is equivalent to the monthly water consumption of over 1,000 families in Malta. The Global Water Partner- ship – Mediterranean leads the design and implementation of the Alter Aqua program in partnership with the Energy and Water Agency and the Co- ca-Cola system in Malta (GSD Marketing Ltd. and The Co- ca-Cola Company). This philanthropic pub- lic-private partnership has been funded consistently for 12 years by The Coca-Cola Foun- dation, with contributions also by the Energy and Water Agen- cy.