Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1468736
3 NEWS 26.5.2022 Gozo business is betting on 'true recovery' this summer Online GTA survey polls members on positive quarter in which business and revenues were on the up MATTHEW VELLA An online survey by the Gozo Tour- ism Association among its members focusing has shown encouraging signs that 2022 is going to be recovery year. 53% of the establishments reported more business on previous the pre- vious quarter of 2021, with 33% stat- ing that their performance was equal to that of the first four months 2021, while 13% reported less business than the period of 2021. This improvement was corroborat- ed further when 57% of respondents declared that the performance of the foreign market on their business was better than that of 2021, with 30% stating that the performance of this market was equal to that of the Janu- ary to April period of 2021. The respondents of this survey were also requested to gauge the effects of the Easter period on their establish- ment's performance. More than half of participants, 60%, declared that the Easter period of 2022 fared better than 2021, while 27% stated that during the past Easter period, their business fair- ed on the same levels of 2021. On the other hand, 13% reported less business during the Easter period in 2022 when compared to 2021. The tourism operators were also asked about the revenue generated during the first four months of 2022. 53% stated that this period was better than 2021, while 30% declared that it was on the same levels of the past year and 13% reported that it was less the year 2021. When asked about their business constraints 77% of respondents blamed the increase in operating costs. Another prevalent constraint was mentioned by 74% of respondents was the staff shortage. Furthermore 61% of respondents de- clared that their 70% or more of their staff compliment is made up of for- eign workers. Finally, from this survey it transpired that 43% of respondents are envisaging better business during 2022 than 2021, with another 23% are predicting very promising year but not exceeding results of 2019. APS green loans extended to electric vehicles for private use AFTER its launch last year, the APS Green Finance Loan is now being extended to cover the financing of electric vehicles for personal and private use. The financing of plug- in hybrid vehicles remains exclu- sive to commercial use, e.g. trucks, vans and fleet cars. The terms of the prevailing interest rate subsi- dy have also been significantly en- hanced, allowing easier and more affordable access to financing un- der this product. This loan facility follows the agreement signed in December 2020 with the European Invest- ment Fund (EIF), marking its par- ticipation in the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy investment scheme. Under this scheme, both retail and commercial customers ben- efit from features such as longer loan repayment terms, subsidised interest rates, discounted fees, re- duced collateral requirements and advisory services provided by Eu- ropean Investment Bank members, to invest in technology or devices to manage and reduce their carbon footprint. Hili Finance posts secure profit for 2021 HILI Finance Company p.l.c., the vehi- cle providing financial resources to Hili Group companies to finance their pro- ject, posted a pre-tax profit of €786,441 for the year ended 2021, up from €772,861. During the year under review the com- pany registered a net interest earned of €835,090 (2020 – €813,719). e compa- ny's profit for the year after taxation was €497,369 (2020 – €491,157). e direc- tors did not declare any dividend. In March 2022, the company issued €50,000,000 in 4% unsecured bonds of a nominal value of €100 per bond on the Malta Stock Exchange. In its report, the company said Malta's FATF greylisting had not led to any im- mediate and direct impact on the compa- ny. "e directors consider that the year- end financial positions were satisfactory and that the company is well placed to sustain the present level of activity in the foreseeable future," Hili Finance said. e company also said it is following the conflict and the resulting humani- tarian crisis in Ukraine. While the guar- antor has no direct interest vested in the country, it is monitoring the effects of the situation on its operations in neigh- bouring countries Romania, the Baltics and Poland where the group operates a vast chain of McDonald's outlets and a Freeport. "Inflationary pressures, supply chain disruption and heightened utility costs are presently being experienced by certain operations within the group. It is challenging to quantify and differentiate what extent of such pressures emanate from the unrest in Ukraine and the con- current COVID-induced events which may have a compounded effect on the footprint of the guarantor is potentially material. "e guarantor's projections continue to show stable performance despite the uncertainty of the current state of affairs on its operations and it remains vigilant in monitoring restrictions on the con- duct of business with sanctioned entities and individuals." MFSA green-lights APS €100 million IPO THE Malta Financial Services Authority has approved the prospectus to be pub- lished in connection with the IPO for APS Bank's €100 million ordinary shares, at €0.62 per share. The general public are invited to sub- mit their applications for new shares as from 3 June, with minimum application size of 1,000 sghares. The bank has already committed to is- sue 69,681,981 new shares to a number of investors as per its pre-allocation pro- cess. The other 40,318,019 new shares, including an additional 10,000,000 new shares if an over-allotment option is ex- ercised, will be available for subscription by the general public and preferred ap- plicants during the offer period. APS is currently owned by the archdi- ocese of Malta through two companies with a combined shareholding of more than 79%, the diocese of Gozo (18.2%) and the Metropolitan Cathedral Chapter (2.3%). With the issue of new shares the Maltese archdiocese shareholding will be diluted to 55.1% but the Maltese Catho- lic church will still remain the single larg- est shareholder. The new shares, including the over-al- lotment option, will collectively account for 30.6% shareholding. APS has entered into pre-allocation agreements with various authorised fi- nancial intermediaries and investors, pursuant to which investors were able to subscribe for new shares at an issue price of 62c with a discount price of 59c4 de- pending on the amount of shares bought. The directors said that through pre-al- location agreements, APS is conditional- ly bound to issue 69,681,981 new shares at an average price of 59c4 per share. Details on the proposed listing and IPO, including the method of applica- tion for new shares and the timetable for the offer period, are now available in the prospectus. APS will be joining the ranks of oth- er banks with shares listed on the MSE. Currently, Bank of Valletta, HSBC, Lom- bard Bank and Fimbank have public shares being traded on the MSE.