Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1506906
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 3 SEPTEMBER 2023 10 COMMERCIAL Frank Salt Real Estate My Green Corner Art Competition winners announced WITH an impressive 489 en- tries received, Frank Salt Real Estate was thrilled to unveil the extraordinary winners of their hugely popular art com- petition "My Green Corner" launched back in March 2023. The art competition aimed at encouraging children to express themselves by creating unique artworks that feature their spe- cial green corner – whether it's a park, garden, landscaped street, alley, or even their own backyard or terrace. Partici- pants were asked to showcase a green space dear to their hearts while also promoting aware- ness about the significance of green spaces in their daily lives. The competition was aimed at school-aged children which were broken down into five age categories ranging from 5 years to 19 years of age. All 489 art pieces were metic- ulously studied by an esteemed panel of judges, comprising both rising stars and established figures in the art world, as well as passionate environmental enthusiasts, namely Denise Pa- pagiorcopulo, Nickie Sultana Radojevic, Simone Magri, Julia Grech Lupi, Leonard Van Den Berg, Joe Young, Ray Young and company chairman Frank Salt, an artist himself. The winners from each cat- egory where the following: 5 to 7yrs category: 1st Kayleigh Tanti, Runner up Adamantia Adamantiadis; 8 to 10yrs cat- egory: 1st Lara Ellul, Runner up Yuki Chen; 11 to 13yrs cat- egory: 1st Emma Brincat, Run- ner up Bella Chai; 14 to 16yrs category: 1st Selsebil Ben Saad, Runner up Dejan Catania; 17 to 19yrs category: 1st Kath- leen Flask, Runner up Anasta- siia Kishinets. Overall winners were Julian Axisa, Mara Cachia, Matthew Sammut and Selsebil Ben Saad. THE Valletta focused investment company - has released its interim financial results for the period from 1st January 2023 to 30th June 2023. The interim report shows significant improvement in hospitality op- erational performance compared to the same period of the previous year, reflect- ing the general market conditions and the Company's advancing operational achieve- ments. Overall, the Group's operations in the hospitality segment benefited from the significantly improved tourism industry performance. The continuously improving general market conditions are reflected in VBL Group's results, with the hospitality business unit showing a continuous im- provement over the past few years in all major hospitality KPIs – incl. occupancy levels, GOP levels per available unit, which is leading to significantly higher revenues and thus increasing the profitability at Group level. The Group delivered record first quarter results, whilst second quarter has seen improvements on all internal KPIs previously achieved. In the reporting period, VBL Group, has registered consolidated revenues of €1,465,918 (compared to 1H2022: €894,884), reflecting an increase of 64% on the previous year's comparative period, and achieved EBITDA of €531,526 (1H2022: €47,907). The operational EBITDA has increased close to 3-fold from the respec- tive period of the previous year. Fighting high inflation pressure in operational ex- penses through strict cost control; various cost efficiency measures and operational expense reduction remain key priorities of the Group. The presented interim financial results are excluding any expected positive effects arising from revaluation of the Groups sig- nificant Valletta based property portfolio, gained from achieved and realized regen- eration projects and renovations, which are carried out annually as ordinary course of business. Revaluation of property assets will be reflected within annual audited ac- counts at year end. Period investment in- come reflected is resulting from new acqui- sitions or additions. VBL plc. announces strong interim financial results A group of front-line staff, including universal bankers and financial advisors from across Bank of Valletta's branch network, investment centres, and private banking, attended a full-day seminar or- ganised by BOV Asset Management (BO- VAM) earlier this month. The seminar kicked off with an overview of the numerous initiatives being undertak- en by the Bank to foster improved custom- er knowledge. "During the past months, we held a series of talks about basic invest- ment knowledge. The response from the public was very encouraging, so much so that we shall soon be launching a new set of sessions at different branches across the Bank's retail network", explained Mr Agius. The seminar included interventions by the Portfolio Managers from BOVAM, who provided an overview of local and foreign market trends. They referred to the Borrowers Confidence Index (BCI) which corroborates the suite of economic forecasts indicating that Malta's economic growth in 2023 is likely to be less than in 2021 and 2022, but possibly higher than the long-term average. Reference was also made to the key drivers in foreign markets, including the actions being taken by central banks and the performance of markets such as China, whose recovery post-pandemic continues to lag behind expectations. Among the guest speakers was Tonia Par- ascandolo, who heads the Bank's Bancas- surance arm. She provided insights into the market's perceptions and understanding of pensions, ranging from the traditional state pension to the selection of personal pen- sion plans available under the third pillar. Clint Azzopardi Flores who heads the Bank's ESG drive, delivered a thought-pro- voking presentation on the historical con- text that led to the Climate Paris Agree- ment targets (2015) to combat climate change. He also described decarbonisation efforts of the EU continent, explaining the implications of transitioning to cleaner en- ergy, even on financial institutions who are now obliged to ensure that their financing is in line with the EU's climate objectives. Clint explained that the green transition will depend heavily on new and emerging geopolitical realities. This shifting scenario will impact investors and the criteria on the basis of which they will decide where to in- vest. BOV Asset Management seminar discusses best practices in investments