Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1400707
NEWS 7 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 11 AUGUST 2021 LAURA CALLEJA LAST month's traffic through Malta International Airport to- talled 311,692 passenger move- ments, recouping 39 per cent of July 2019 traffic levels. This shows that Malta is re- covering at a slower pace than its Southern European coun- terparts whose recovery rate for July averaged at 57% ac- cording to Airports Council International data. Seat capacity deployed on routes to and from Malta was just 35.5% below 2019 levels, with the seat load factor (SLF) for the month, which meas- ures the occupancy of the seats available, standing at 52.6% compared to 87.0% in July 2019. Throughout the month, trav- el opportunities for the local market continued to increase as French flag-carrier Air France launched three week- ly flights to Paris Charles de Gaulle airport and two brand- new routes to Chania and Cagliari were added to Malta International Airport's sum- mer schedule, among other traffic developments. July also saw the return of the United Kingdom among Malta International Airport's top five markets following the easing of travel restrictions between the two countries and the sub- sequent increase in flight fre- quencies on several UK routes as well as the introduction of additional routes by a number of airlines. The United Kingdom moved up four places from June, dis- placing Spain from the market leaderboard and pushing each one of the German, French and Polish markets down one po- sition compared to June. Italy, on the other hand, retained its top spot with 60,388 passenger movements. An industry assessment is- sued by Eurocontrol on 22 Ju- ly noted that European traffic was clearly on the increase in the 10 weeks leading to the publication of this report, with domestic travel still dominat- ing passenger traffic. Slower recovery for Malta air travel compared to southern European counterparts THE Board of Directors of GO p.l.c. has approved the group's interim finan- cial statements for the period January to June 30, 2021. Despite the challenging economic climate brought about by the global pandemic, and which persisted throughout the first six months of the year, the Group registered a solid perfor- mance. Throughout this time, GO p.l.c. con- tinued with its efforts to keep its cus- tomers, businesses and the community connected by focusing on its digitalisa- tion journey and True Fibre nationwide rollout programme. Group revenue for the first six months of the year amounted to €93.9 mil- lion, an increase of €2.3 million, or 2.5% over the comparative period in 2020. The major contributors towards this increase stem from two of the GO Group's subsidiaries. BMIT Technol- ogies p.l.c., a data centre operations company, registered an increase in rev- enues of €1.1 million on the back of a higher demand for data centre, cloud, and managed services. On the other hand, Cablenet Communication Sys- tems p.l.c. registered revenue growth of 10.5% compared to the same peri- od in 2020, reflecting the Company's subscriber gains, expansion of its fixed network footprint in Cyprus, and the launch of new mobile services. Conversely, international travel re- strictions contributed to a decrease in local telecoms revenue, particularly through roaming and other interna- tional wholesale revenues. On the expenditure side, the Group continued to drive various cost saving initiatives, while ensuring that cost savings achieved in 2020 are sustained. Group cost of sales and administrative expenses amounted to €84.7 million, a net increase of €3 million over 2020 and largely attributable to direct costs and ancillary administrative expenses in connection with the setting up, launch, and operation of Cablenet's new mobile service. Consolidated EBITDA for the first 6 months of 2021 amounted to €34.8 mil- lion (2020: €35.5 million). Depreciation and amortisation amounting to €24.8 million remained on similar levels to 2020, while consolidated Finance Costs increased by €0.6 million. The Group's pre-tax profit for the first 6 months of 2021 amounted to €7.9 million, a slight decline over 2020. The Board of Directors resolved to ap- prove the payment of an interim divi- dend of €0.07 per share. GO Chairman Samir Saied noted that the figures released yesterday con- firm GO's commitment to drive a dig- ital Malta where no one is left behind. The Company's efforts since the onset of the pandemic to ensure that every- one remained connected are yielding the desired results and that despite the persisting uncertainty in the economic climate, the Group continued to grow in a sustainable manner, expanding its market share and service offering. This commitment did not go unno- ticed among institutional investors and the general public, with a €60 million bond issue by GO earlier this year at- tracting more than 6,500 applications worth €146 million. Chief Executive Officer Nikhil Patil said: "The overwhelming demand for the bond, which was oversubscribed by nearly three times, is testament to the level of confidence and trust that GO enjoys amongst the local investor com- munity. The results announced today confirm the robustness and stability of our company throughout turbulent times and provide further confirmation of why investors and the public believe in GO." GO registers revenue increase in first six months of 2021