€1.50
THURSDAY 10 SEPTEMBER 2020 • ISSUE 74
WWW.BUSINESSTODAY.COM.MT
PAUL COCKS
THE Eden Leisure Group, owners
of Eden Cinemas, Eden Superbowl,
Bay Radio, the InterContinental
Malta hotel and Holiday Inn Ex-
press Malta hotels, plus other busi-
nesses and properties – is forecast-
ing a pre-tax loss of €6.8 million for
2020, mostly as a result of measures
introduced to combat COVID-19.
e Group registered a prof-
it before tax of €15.45 million in
FY2019.
e Group's revenue in FY2020
is projected to amount to €14.3
million, a decrease of €30.7 mil-
lion (-68%) from the prior year
(FY2019: €45.0 million), of which
circa 53% is expected to be gen-
erated from the hotels whilst the
remaining balance from the enter-
tainment & leisure segment and
other operations.
e Group is projected to incur
a loss after tax of €4.4million com-
pared to a profit of €12.7 million in
FY2019. e loss for the year takes
into account the decline in business
activities, and the cost cutting ex-
ercise undertaken by management
as well as Government's support
through the wage subsidy scheme
until October 2020.
FY2020 was expected to be an-
other year of growth in both hos-
pitality and entertainment sectors.
However, the onset of COVID-19
has had a very negative effect on
business the world over.
PAGES 6 & 7
PAGE 3
Editorial PAGE 9
PRE-BUDGET DOCUMENT OFFERS IMPORTANT COMMITMENTS
Eden Group forecasting a €6.8m
loss in 2020 due to COVID-19
Digital marketing
dos and dont's for
businesses
PAGE 5
Budget 2021: No plans
to increase taxes,
Finance Minister says
Edward Scicluna unveils pre-budget document:
'You can't achieve a surplus during a crisis.'