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4 NEWS 9.3.2023 THE average DSO – Days Sales Out- standing or as also referred to 'the pay- ment collection ratio' across all the Mal- tese business sectors as at 31st December 2022 was 80.96 days. is figure was derived from a survey conducted by e Malta Association of Credit Management (MACM) amongst its members. MACM represents suppli- ers selling on credit in Malta and other creditors hailing from all sectors of the Maltese economy. e DSO figures for specific industries and sectors were also issued and com- municated to the respective MACM Members who participated in this criti- cal exercise. MACM notes that there has been a mar- ginal improvement of 3.64 days compared to last year's DSO figure which stood at 84.60 days. Nonetheless, it has also been noted that a DSO of 80.96 days is still rela- tively high when compared to the average DSO of other European countries which read 51 days for B2B, 27 days B2C and 66 days for the Public sector (Intrum Justitia Late Payment Report – 2022). Accounts Receivable, or as they are commonly known 'Debtors', represent on average about 40% of the total assets of the balance sheet of most firms, which assets are deemed liquid. A high DSO figure would not help the cash flow of a business and may also hinder further business growth. e DSO Ratio is the tool widely used by businesses globally to measure the performance of the credit management function. It represents the average time taken by customers in settling their invoic- es due to their suppliers. is Ratio is composed of two variables, the Debtors Amount and the Sales Turnover which are expressed in collection days. ere exist a number of external factors that may influence the DSO Ratio figure. erefore, it is advisable to benchmark the DSO figure with that of the same sector or industry. By benchmarking the DSO figure of a business with that of the same industry, one would be able to measure the 'Debt- ors' - Accounts Receivables (A/R) per- formance against one's own credit terms and those of the competitors within the same industry. MACM notes that the aim of good credit management is to contribute di- rectly to profitable sales growth. ere- fore, sales and revenue should not suffer at the expense of reducing DSO. When using DSO as a tool to measure the effectiveness of the credit function, one needs to also evaluate other relevant financial ratios that take into consider- ation not only the 'Sales' figure but also the 'Profit' – the bottom line. e DSO alone does not account for customer retention, nor does it measure customer satisfaction, which is required to sustain long-term customer relation- ship, hence maintaining competitive ad- vantage on the market. Payment collection period in Malta Letter of Intention Kris Bartolo of 2Thirty Enterprises Limited., declare their intention for the company to register for an Employment Agency licence in accordance to article 23 of the Employment and Training Services Act, 1990 (Act XXVIII of 1990). The activities proposed to be carried out are the following: 1. Recruitment Consultancy 2. Interviewing, selection and placements of candidates in employment 3. Recruitment of persons from abroad to employment in Malta or in an EU member state 4. Recruitment of persons in Malta for employment in Malta or in an EU member state 5. Advertising of the filling of vacancies 6. Keeping a register of applicants for employment Official Registered Office Address: 230, 230 Works Business Centre, 2nd Floor Eucharistic Congress Road Mosta MST9039 Malta The Office Address of the premises at which the employment agency or employment business is to be carried out. Company Registration Number: C 102328 THE Foundation for Transport (FfT) and the Malta Employers Association (MEA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding strengthening the co-founder relationship between the two institutions and allowing the two sides to intensify their collaboration, ex- change of information and mutual pro- motion through their respective fora. e agreement was signed by MEA's Director General Joseph Farrugia and Chairperson of the Foundation for Transport Michael Callus. In particular, the agreement will en- sure increased awareness among MEA members of the initiatives launched by the Foundation for Transport to generate awareness about careers in the transport sector, in particular in the maritime, logistics and aviation spheres, to identify and pursue catalysts to set into motion change to greener technologies in transport and be able to attract technology innovators to Malta and Gozo. is relationship assumes stronger relevance in the current scenario where the Foundation is piloting a number of initiatives with educational institutions to match the short-and-longer-term skills need of private industry players in transport. e Foundation will utilise MEAINDEX to launch surveys to seek employers' feedback on various the- matic areas, such as defining skills gaps, defining solutions to address these gaps, scoping accelerators for the adoption of green technologies. FfT Chairperson Michael Callus said: "As one of its cofounders, the Founda- tion has found MEA as a strong sup- porter of one of the main missions of the Foundation, to enable private in- dustry to keep up with the pace of all progressive developments in transport." Collaboratively, both entities will have new opportunities to strengthen their efforts in facilitating access for informa- tion and be hand-holding partners in the process of re-training and upscaling their day-to-day skills needs in business operations. MEA Director General Joseph Farru- gia said: "e signing of this agreement formalises the strong and excellent re- lationship between MEA and the FfT which started right at the outset of the Foundation's inception way back in 2020. In fact, we are one of the five co-founders of the Foundation. To date the two parties collaborated on vari- ous initiatives of mutual interest not least SMEWEEK events, webinars and research projects amongst MEA mem- bers, besides involving the Foundation in our MEA TV Programmes." Collaboration agreement to benefit of private industry players in transport

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