Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1467489
2 NEWS 12.5.2022 CC Finance Group, which operates in the fields of Investment Servic- es, Fund Services, as well as online investing and digital payments, has published its annual report for 2021, reporting positive results for the fiscal year as it reinforces its position as a leader locally and pursues its interna- tionalisation strategy, which aims at establishing itself in various European markets. Despite the challenges present- ed by the COVID-19 pandemic and Malta being placed on the list of In- creased Monitoring by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), 2021 saw the Group hit a number of Key Per- formance Indicators (KPIs), most no- tably increasing its revenue by 17.1% from €11.15 million in 2020 to €13.06 million, as well as increasing its Assets Under Management & Administra- tion (AUMA) by 20.9% from €1.88 bil- lion to €2.28 billion. In addition, €213 million of Net Flows were reported. Nick Calamatta, Co-CEO of the Group, said: "We are happy with our performance during 2021, a year in which the group continued to con- solidate into three main divisions and achieve the scale needed to further evolve into an international financial services provider." The positive performance through- out the year has been attributed to the diversity of the revenue streams of the Group. Positive revenue growth and also growth in client assets were re- corded in each division of the group. The Financial Planning & Wealth di- vision under Calamatta Cuschieri saw record inflows of €77 million. Mean- while, over 120,000 trades were placed on the digital investment platform over the course of the year. Alan Cuschieri, Co-CEO of the Group stated: "The hard work of our workforce is yielding results. The launching of the Moneybase app dur- ing our 50th anniversary year promis- es to be a step change in the execution of our roadmap and strategy." As the Group continues to focus on growing revenue of its core business- es and increasing its AUMA, 2022 is seen as an exciting year thanks to the launches of Moneybase, Malta's first online payments app, which included the rebranding of the Group's online trading platform CCTrader to Money- base Invest. The Annual Report 2021 is available online via this link https://cc.com.mt/ investor-relations/ CC Finance Group registers positive results in 2021 MDA demands political commitment to avoid excessive bureaucracy THE Malta Developers Association has called on the government to reduce the excessive bureaucracy that is consistently frsutrating entrepreneurs. In a meeting with Prime Minister Robert Abela and a number of ministers, MDA president Michael Stiva- la said that "the Association has been the catalyst for economic growth during the pandemic, and unlike oth- er industries which most of them benefitted from long wage benefits we never asked for any direct assistance but played a key role in sustaining the economy." Stivala said that this commitment would be futile if not backed by the political commitment from the gov- ernment to reduce the extra bureaucracy that is consistently, diminishing Maltese and Gozitan en- trepreneurs. Unbridled bureaucracy that just prolongs processes which is not enjoyed by anyone, and which at the end of the day, it is only the consumer who will have to make up for it. "The authorities need to better understand the difficul- ties that the industry is facing and that by adding more regulations they are not solving more problems," he said. "Unfortunately, many see the industry as a milking cow and impose only the extra costs that are being paid every day for no additional value. The LESA and the BCA are a clear example of where such red tape stands out." The Prime Minister expressed his understanding and agreed that this is a concern that the government is will- ing and eager to tackle. Stivala also addressed some environmental issues in which he expressed his disappointment in how certain areas are left in neglect, especially in the countryside, where not even the basic weed and logs from the rubble walls are being cleaned and removed. The MDA president said that the people have shown trust in this Government with a strong mandate in the election in favour of progress. "Certain decisions need to be taken, even if they may seem to be drastic ones and not the most popular, but this is the only way to keep the desired economic sta- bility." IN March 2022, the seasonal- ly adjusted index of industri- al production increased by 3.6 per cent over the previous month. When compared to March 2021, the working-day adjusted index of industrial production fell by 0.1 per cent. After adjusting for season- al effects and the working-day pattern, the index of industri- al production increased by 3.6 per cent between February and March 2022. Increases were registered in the production of energy (8.5 per cent), consumer goods (4.9 per cent) and capital goods (2.6 per cent). The pro- duction of intermediate goods decreased by 0.3 per cent. Annual comparison In March 2022, the total pro- duction generated by the Mal- tese manufacturing, energy, and mining and quarrying in- dustries went down by 0.1 per cent when compared to March 2021. e production of consumer goods and intermediate goods decreased by 7.8 per cent and 1.8 per cent respectively whilst that of energy and capital goods increased by 15.1 per cent and 5.9 per cent respectively. Index of industrial production: March 2022 1 Kindly indicate source when quoting from this release. The advance release calendar may be consulted at www.nso.gov.mt Issued by: Dissemination Unit, National Statistics Office, Lascaris, Valletta VLT 2000, Malta. T. +356 2599 7219 F. +356 2599 7205 E. nso@gov.mt 11 May 2022 | 1100 hrs | 083/2022 In March 2022, the seasonally adjusted index of industrial production increased by 3.6 per cent over the previous month. When compared to March 2021, the working-day adjusted index of industrial production fell by 0.1 per cent. of Industrial Production: March 2022 Monthly comparison After adjusting for seasonal effects and the working-day pattern, the index of industrial production increased by 3.6 per cent between February and March 2022. Increases were registered in the production of energy (8.5 per cent), consumer goods (4.9 per cent) and capital goods (2.6 per cent). The production of intermediate goods decreased by 0.3 per cent (Table 2). Annual comparison In March 2022, the total production generated by the Maltese manufacturing, energy, and mining and quarrying industries went down by 0.1 per cent when compared to March 2021. The production of consumer goods and intermediate goods decreased by 7.8 per cent and 1.8 per cent respectively whilst that of energy and capital goods increased by 15.1 per cent and 5.9 per cent respectively (Table 4) https://twitter.com/NSOMALTA/ https://www.facebook.com/nsomalta/ Compiled by: Short-term Business Statistics Unit Contact us: National Statistics Office, Lascaris, Valletta VLT 2000 T. +356 25997219, E. nso@gov.mt Chart 1. Annual working-day adjusted variation (% change over corresponding month of the previous year) -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M 2020 2021 2022 percentage change t / t-12 period