Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1246698
14.05.2020 2 NEWS MAPFRE MSV Life p.l.c. registers 2019 pre-tax profits of €14.5 million MAPFRE MSV Life p.l.c. registered a profit before tax of €14.5 million for the year ended 31 December 2019, up 5.8% on the previous year where a €13.7 million profit before tax was generated. Profit after tax amounted to €11.7 million, up 7.3% on the €10.9 million in the previous year. Operating results were supported by a significant appreciation in asset val- ues on the back of favourable market conditions as well as strong inflows of premium revenue across the Com- pany's range of insurance and invest- ment products. Gross premiums written for finan- cial year 2019 totalled €282.9 million, 11.6% down on a prior year €320.0 million, impacted by a lower demand for single premium business partial- ly offset by a growing demand for longer-term regular premium savings and retirement products. Net claims incurred increased to €210.1 million compared to a prior year €145.7 million due to higher ma- turities of medium-term single premi- um contracts. A large proportion of maturing contracts were subsequently re-invested in new medium-term con- tracts. Total assets increased by 12.8% from €2,213.4 million at the end of 2018 to €2,497.1 million at the end of 2019, whilst net technical provisions (in- cluding investment contracts with- out DPF) increased by 14.3% from €2,013.9 million in 2018 to €2,301.8 million in 2019. The value of in-force business, which projects future transfers to sharehold- ers arising from policies in force at the end of the year, increased significantly by 17.4%, from a €62.6 million value in 2018 to €73.5 million in 2019. This is attributable to the impact of new business inflows, strong in- vestment returns, improved techni- cal margins, low surrenders and im- proved mortality performance when comparing actual mortality to as- sumed mortality. Total shareholders' funds at the close of 2019 amounted to €147.4 million (2018: €160.0 million), a decrease of 7.9% over the previous year due to the distribution of prior year dividends, yet well ahead of minimum solvency requirements. The solvency ratio stood at 245% at the end of 2019. The shareholders of MAPFRE MSV Life are wholly committed to ensuring that the Company remains adequately capitalised at all times and well posi- tioned for both business growth and effective regulatory capital thresholds in place under the Solvency II frame- work. The MAPFRE MSV With-Profits Fund increased by 13.8% from €1.89 billion in 2018 to €2.15 billion at 31 December 2019. The total investment return of the Fund amounted to €222.9 million re- covering strongly from the negative €43.1 million downturn in 2018. GLOBALCAPITAL plc grew its asset base by €16 million in 2019, which reached €154m, during a highly successful year for the group which has main- ly focused on the provision of life and health insurance services. e Company also reg- istered a pre-tax profit of €2m, doubling the figure for the previous year, while total equity also increased to €20m. GlobalCapital Chair- man Paolo Catalfamo said: "ese extremely positive results are down to restruc- turing the business and taking the strategic deci- sion to grow our insurance business. We also achieved a positive return on our in- vestments. "We will continue to make more changes this year to ensure that the Company continues to move forward and achieve further suc- cess." GlobalCapital has also appointed a major inter- national consulting firm to assist in the preparation of a holistic strategic plan with the aim of addressing certain legacy issues and support the consolidation and future growth of the business. A draft high-level propos- al has been prepared and is currently being discussed with the Malta Financial Services Authority given the various regulatory ap- provals that will likely be required for its implemen- tation. Meanwhile, the Company has been extremely agile in adapting to the situa- tion created by the Covid 19 pandemic. All functions were reconfigured in re- mote mode and staff will resume office operations this week after they were tested for the virus by a medical profession using a rapid testing kit. GlobalCapital grows asset base by €16m in 2019 Newly listed Harvest Technology posts €2m profit after tax in 2019 HARVEST Technology plc, the IT, security and electronic pay- ments group which listed on the Malta Stock Exchange last De- cember, has posted a net profit of €2,088,772 after tax for the year ended 31 December 2019, up from €580,676 in 2018. Last year, the group registered revenues of €16 million (2018: €15.6 million) resulting in an operating profit of €3.2 mil- lion, a marked increase on 2018 (€967,412). EBITDA almost tri- pled to €3.9 million from the previous year's €1.4 million. Harvest Technology comprises IT solutions provider PTL Ltd, automation and security com- pany APCO Ltd, and payment solutions specialist APCO Sys- tems Ltd. e group's portfolio of businesses delivers impactful, intuitive solutions to customers operating in sectors like bank- ing, aviation, pharmaceuticals, energy and state agencies in Malta, and internationally elec- tronic transactions, retail auto- mation, and border security. e group is part of 1923 In- vestments plc, which last De- cember disposed of part of its holding in Harvest Technology through an initial public offer- ing. Harvest Technology's re- sults exceed the projections of the IPO's prospectus both for the year ending 31 December 2019 and Q1 2020. e unaudited consolidat- ed net profit before tax of the Harvest Group in Q1 2020 was €835,000, an improvement of 25% on the budget projection for Q1 (€668,000) which consti- tuted the first quarter of the an- nual projected consolidated Net Profit Before Tax of €3,124,000 for 2020 as detailed in the pro- spectus in November 2019. During the year, Harvest Tech- nology paid a net interim divi- dend of €950,000 (€0.0417 per share (2018: €750,000 equiva- lent to €0.0329 per share) to the shareholders prior to the IPO. e directors have proposed a further net dividend of €410,051 (€0.018 per share) to be paid on or around 15 May 2020, to all its shareholders included in the Shareholders' Register of the company as at April 30, 2020. is, with the interim dividend paid during the year, will be put forward for approval at the next Annual General Meeting to be held once the COVID-19 re- strictions are lifted. Dr Godwin Caruana, Chief Executive Officer, and Professor Juanito Camilleri, Chairman, of Harvest Technology plc