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maltatoday | SUNDAY • 2 MAY 2021 10 NEWS MATTHEW VELLA MILLIONS were lost in sales by some of Malta's largest companies and bond issuers, a raft of end-of-year financials posted in the last weeks show. A selection of some of the more prolific organisations shows the varying fortunes of businesses who suffered the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic's lockdown and public health restrictions. Others granted a 'pass' to proceed with their economic activity retained positives figures, with dampened sales but never straying away from a minor profit. An example were mega-property pro- jects which remained largely unaffected by the pandemic: the 31-storey Mercury high-rise in St Julian's developed by Jo- seph Portelli signed deeds of sale worth €19.8 million in 2020, well above the €9 million registered in 2019, due to a high- er number of floors completed through- out the year. Total investment property is valued at €40 million. Company directors said in their annual reports that the project had proceeded without any major interruptions dur- ing the most challenging months of the COVID-19 pandemic and is now en- tering finishing. They said 97% of total units had been sold prior to the approval of additional floors in 2020. COVID-19's enforced closures of retail shops certainly affected the fortunes of the retail fashion and food powerhouse Dizz Group, owned by Diane and Karl Izzo, which registered a pre-tax loss of €5.3 million due to a 8% drop in sales - down from €14 million in 2019 to €12.9 million in 2020. The group obtained €2 million in COV- ID financing schemes and €3 million in subsidised interest-rate banking finance to pad its cash shortfall, apart from a re- structuring of the groups: they incorpo- rated D Foods Finance plc as the hold- ing company of its food companies DK Pascucci, DCaffe, D Kitchen Lab, and Xilema Limited, a concern valued at over €6.1 million in shares. But these outlets also suffered the brunt of of the COV- ID-19 lockdown on retail outlets. The new company raised €3 million from a €10 million loan note issued by D Foods Finance plc. Despite the pandemic, the group com- pleted works at D Mall with eight outlets leased out to related or third parties, and one outlet and office space remaining vacant at the end of the year. Dizz has a 15-year lease with Sliema Wanderers FC to develop and sublease the D Mall com- mercial centre at Tigné Point, as well as a 16-year agreement for the Centerparc mall in Qormi. In 2020, the group reg- istered a €1.15 million profit from leas- ing of immovable property. Its shopping mall finance vehicle, D Shopping Malls Finance plc, is now expecting to register €1.7 million in revenue from retail outlet leases. The retail franchise chain Melite, suf- fered €4.2 million in losses due to the COVID closures of its Italian fashion shops, and saw its projected €6.2 million equity going down to €1.3 milion. The company, which has been the sub- ject of attempts at securing additional financing, said it will still be convening a bondholders meeting to seek approv- al to changes in their bond coupon so as to give the company breathing room in meeting its financing obligations. The group was also forced to enter in- to voluntary administration, and to re- scind nine out of 26 stores held by re- lated company Melite Properties. Since then, the company has locked down new agreements for the lease of their shops. The COVID pandemic impacted the fashion industry hard and the sub-sec- tor related to formal wear within that industry even harder. With offices and shops in most markets being closed for much of the last year, and all events nor- mally connected with formal attire such as weddings, baptisms and corporate events prohibited, demand for formal wear slumped for clothing group Bortex with a pre-tax loss of €1.2 million. It meant significant reductions for Bor- tex's international orders and as a result, losses at its Tunisian manufacturing subsidiary, Bortex Tunisie Sarl forced it into closure as a €400,000 write-off. "Unfortunately, Bortex is no longer in a position to continue with these extraor- dinary efforts without endangering the overall health of the entire group," di- rectors said. Bortex also owns the Hotel 1926, TEN Apartments, and the Palazzo Jean Parisot boutique suites as part of its Roosendaal Hotels subsidiary: the sale of TEN apart- ment units in 2020 netted a €2.7 million profit alone, while its Hotel 1926 man- aged a €500,000 gross profit. The group said that its project TEN had proved to be vital given that COVID-19 only lim- itedly impacted real estate. Bortex was granted a €2.8m loan under the Malta Development Bank COVID scheme. The Tumas Group saw a 42% decrease in sales down to €34 million but still managed a profit of €11 million, just down €1.2m from the previous year – a "commendable result" as remarked by directors. Hospitality revenues, from ho- tels such as the Portomaso Hilton, were down 68% to €13 million, but property development saved the day with a new office black at the Portomaso Business Tower with €15 million in sales and €6.1 million in rentals. "What started off as a better perform- ing year in the hospitality segment, was short-lived, as the first two months' su- perior performance were abruptly halt- ed as a result of the pandemic," Tumas directors said. Hotel occupancy in the brief summer of 2020 was at 36% when typically this would be 94%. The direc- tors said revenues were down from both the Portomaso marina and car park, and its iconic tower bar Level 22 "suffered the most as it was and is still closed." With total equity of some €137 milion, the organisation availed itself a €4 mil- lion COVID facility from the Malta De- velopment Bank. The developers of Tigné Point, with net asset value of €104 million, registered a pre-tax loss of €2.1 million in 2020, down from an €8.2 million profit the previous year. But the company only had three apartments in its Q2 building in stock, and none were sold due to the subdued activity of the pandemic. Instead, rental income generated a €1.3 million profit, down from €2 million the previous year due to rent concessions to the tenants of its commercial properties and car park operator. In addition to its Manoel Island project, the company was finalising a 63-apart- ment Q3 residential block, which was Snapshot of Maltese PLCs shows property and food sales in COVID kept business going, but retail groups suffered between 70- 80% drops in sales Ravages of COVID: multi-million losses for retail groups COVID had varying effects on all types of businesses: retail clothing powerhouses like the Dizz Group and Bortex suffered losses on this front, but foodstores had booming trade, such as The Convenience Shop chain. Property on the other hand was relatively unaffected by COVID, as Mercury House plc completed sales of all units that came on market in 2020; the Tumas Group's Portomaso also managed to turn a commendable profit despite hotel closures Mercury rising: the almost completed 31-storey tower at the mouth of Paceville. Right: Aerial view of the Portomaso marina