Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1542182
9 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 21 DECEMBER 2025 ANALYSIS party accounts reveal about PL and PN? repayment of €16,500, alongside a sig- nificant interest burden. Labour, meanwhile, has six bank loans, together costing the party around €36,000 per month in repayments. It al- so relies on a bank overdraft to finance day-to-day operations, a sign of persis- tent cash-flow pressure. The difference lies in scale and resil- ience. Labour's debt is broadly consid- ered manageable relative to its asset base, though its €160,000 annual fi- nance cost is far from trivial. The par- ty's auditor flagged uncertainty around property valuations but did not raise a going-concern warning. PN's position is more precarious. Its interest bill of nearly €396,000 is very high relative to income, leaving the par- ty dependent on continued bank sup- port and favourable asset valuations. Repeated impairments on loans to sub- sidiaries suggest that these entities are not financially viable without constant backing from the party itself. Election spending tells the story The single biggest factor behind La- bour's 2024 deficit was election spend- ing. During the MEP and local council elections, Labour spent around €1.5 million, with a further €200,000 on gen- eral party promotion. This dwarfs PN's expenditure. The Nationalist Party spent €251,369 on election campaigns and promotions, plus €14,683 specifically on local coun- cil elections. While PN's tighter spend- ing limited losses in 2024, it also reflects constrained financial capacity rather than strategic choice. Money from members and donors Labour collected €102,113 from sub- scriptions in 2024, slightly more than PN's €97,588. However, Labour's mem- bership income fell from €115,019 in 2023, while PN's rose from €83,166. The figures suggest falling membership in the PL as opposed to increasing mem- bership in the PN. As far as monetary donations are concerned, the parties are in the same boat. The PN received €1.6 million worth of donations in 2024 while Labour received €1.4 million. Overall, the Labour Party relies heav- ily on donations and property income, backed by a large asset base. The Na- tionalist Party relies more on fundrais- ing and asset sales. Who pays better? The PN appears to be the higher-paying employer. In 2024 there were 28 people working with the PN and 15 people with the Labour Party, with total spending on salaries amounting to €384,383 and €564,696 respectively. However, these figures suggest that the average salary in the Labour Party is €20,167.71 while in the PN it's €25,625.53. But a look at the PN's payables, and it seems it has a considerable amount of pending social security contributions, specifically half a million's worth as of 2024 (€582,389), suggesting delays in meeting statutory obligations. Property, media and hidden risks Both parties have considerable prop- erty assets. Labour has €13.3 million worth of property, plant and equip- ment, while the PN has €14.4 million's worth. A cause for concern for the National- ist Party is its investment in Media.Link, the party's media arm. According to the accounts, Media.Link is loss-making. The party has put substantial funds into Media.Link, but for accounting purpos- es those funds are now valued at zero. Lucky for the PN, it holds a modest portfolio of listed shares that showed a positive market revaluation in 2024. Meanwhile, the Labour Party has a larger and more diversified group of controlled entities, all effectively 100% controlled, either directly or through holding companies. The main holding company is MLP Holdings Ltd. Most subsidiaries appear to be held at token value. For MLP Holdings Ltd, and its media and printing companies, One Productions Ltd and Sound Vision Print Ltd, the party's investment is carried at €2 each. This suggests that these com- panies historically incurred losses, with very large original costs almost entire- ly offset by accumulated losses. Labour has not written them down to zero, but keeps them at a nominal value instead. Labour's most important single invest- ment is Orpheum Theatre Ltd, with a net book value of almost €2 million. Santa Clause visits the PN headquarters where a fund-raising marathon in December 2025 collected €730,000. (Photo: PN) Labour Party officials at the Electoral Commission's office in Naxxar where they formally submitted the accounts and donation reports for 2024. (Photo: PL) Nationalist Party officials at the Electoral Commission's office in Naxxar where they submitted the accounts and donation reports after a lapse of four years. (Photo: PN)