Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1284566
3 NEWS 3.9.2020 FROM PAGE 1 Furthermore, this projection does not include possible wage support beyond September 2020, grants still being de- fined by the relevant authorities and the potential income from insurance claims. MZ Investment Services Ltd published the IHI Group Financial Analysis Sum- mary yesterday. Depreciation and amortisation and share of losses from equity accounted investments are projected to decrease by €1.2 million and €1.9 million to €35.6 million and €2.0 million respectively. Net finance costs are expected to be broadly unchanged at €23.8 million (FY2019: €23.2 million). After account- ing for a tax credit of €17.5 million, the loss for the year is estimated at €57.4 million. Other comprehensive expense princi- pally includes adverse currency transla- tion differences of €35.7 million. Due to this negative movement and the expect- ed loss for the year, total comprehensive expense is estimated at €93.1 million (FY2019: total comprehensive income of €38.9 million). Assets Total assets of the Group as at 31 De- cember 2019 amounted to €1,687 mil- lion (FY2018: €1,618 million). 'Other investments' amounting to €8.4 million represents the acquisition by the Group of 10% of Global Hotel Alliance and 10% shareholding in a hotel and residential development in Moscow. Following the adoption of IFRS 16, the Group recognised right-of-use assets and lease liabilities amounting to €13.8 million and €14.0 million respectively. In FY2019, the Group issued €20 mil- lion of additional bonds and the ag- gregate outstanding bonds at year end amounted to €222.6 million (FY2018: €202.5 million). Net debt in FY2019 amounted to €530.1 million compared to €511.2 million in FY2018. Total assets in FY2020 are projected to amount to €1,566 million, a decrease of €121 million from a year earlier. e value of investment property and prop- erty, plant & equipment is expected to decrease by €75.5 million, mainly on account of adverse exchange rate fluc- tuations in the rouble and pound ster- ling and the annual depreciation charge, partly offset by capital expenditure antic- ipated to amount to €13.8 million. Due to the disruptions caused by the COV- ID-19 pandemic, inventories and trade & other receivables are expected to de- cline by €4.8 million and €10.2 million respectively. Furthermore, cash and cash equivalents are projected to decrease y-o-y by €28.0 million. Liabilities A decrease of €27.9 million is being forecast for total liabilities, whereby other current and non-current liabilities (main- ly comprising trade & other payables and deferred taxation respectively) are ex- pected to decrease by €44.0 million. On the other hand, bank and other borrow- ings are projected to increase by €12.2 million in FY2020 to €604.8 million. Due to an increase in borrowings, the gearing ratio of the Group is expected to increase from 37% in FY2019 to 42%. Notwithstanding, the liquidity ratio is projected to increase to 1.16 times from 1.13 times reported at the end of FY2019. IHI's revenue to drop by €175 million in 2020 as COVID-19 forces closures The 439-room Corinthia Hotel Budapest is valued at €122.75 million AIR Malta was instrumental in saving up to €5.5 million in cargo costs, as it assisted the Government of Malta for delivery of some 800 tonnes of medical supplies to Mater Dei Hospital frontline workers at the height of the Covid-19 emergency. Air Malta was in fact crucial in engag- ing its commercial partners in securing substantial cost-saving on the delivery of this exceptional cargo. Following Mater Dei Hospital Logis- tics Department's request for as- sistance, Air Malta Chief Executive Clifford Chetcuti intervened to find a better solution to a proposal submitted by a Hong Kong based logistics oper- ator. As the national airline attempted to respond to the request made by Gov- ernment, it transpired that carrying some 800,000kgs of cargo would be logistically impossible, given that Air Malta would have had to operate some 100 flights to and from China. Another daunting challenge would have seen Air Malta crews be segregat- ed into quarantine both in China and upon return to Malta. Analysing government's request re- garding this exceptional load, it only made sense that a specific dedicated 'freighter aircraft' be chartered to trans- port the supplies. Air Malta does not have this capacity. Air Malta CEO Clifford Chetcuti, as- sisted by staff at the Airline's Cargo Sec- tion, engaged with various international logistics operators. It was through Air Malta's excellent commercial relations with Qatar Air- ways, that a viable and far less costly solution was found to transport such an exceptional load to Malta. After negotiating, it was agreed that the cargo would be brought to Malta using eight special flights operated by Qatar Airways Boeing 777 Freighter. Air Malta helped Malta save €5.5m in transport costs for medical goods during COVID-19 pandemic