Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/187071
45 Events maltatoday, SUNDAY, 6 OCTOBER 2013 Career prospects on offer at HSBC Malta's YES 4 Students stand HSBC Malta's YES 4 Students stand at University of Malta is heading a recruitment drive with job prospects for University graduates. This is in addition to its usual role of providing information about HSBC Malta's special offers and expert advice on financial services for students. The stand is also acting as a hub of information about HSBC Malta corporate sustainability activities in order to raise awareness and promote the diverse range of environmental and educational initiatives being carried out by HSBC Malta Foundation, the bank's corporate sustainability arm. "We are bringing more value and interest to Yes 4 Students stand as a recruitment platform offering opportunities for graduates to join HSBC Malta's dynamic team," said Brian Tortell, HSBC Malta's Head of Marketing. "In addition to financial guidance and special offers to students, another novelty this year is that of HSBC Malta Water Programme volunteers promoting awareness about HSBC Malta's corporate sustainability initiatives. These include the recently launched €500,000 'Catch the Drop' water conservation campaign." HSBC Malta, in partnership with SCAN Malta, offers a vast range of gifts to complement the HSBC Yes 4 Students financial packages. All students who open an HSBC Yes 4 Student account before 31 October 2013 receive a 4GB USB 2.0 pendrive, while students who direct their stipends into a YES 4 account are eligi- ble for a variety of gift options, some completely free. Free gift options include a case for tablets, a mobile phone bluetooth headset, Sennheiser headphones, iPod/iPhone/iPad speakers, and a laptop cooler stand. Special offers at highly discounted rates include a Dual Core 7" Android 4.1 Tablet for €95, a 500GB mini External hard drive for €30, an iPad keyboard for €70, an eBook reader for €60, and a Fuji Camera (14MP/x24 Opt) for €120. Students who apply for an account via internet will receive a USB universal battery charger for smartphones. HSBC Malta's YES 4 Students stand also offers career prospects for university graduates More information from www.hsbc. com.mt/Yes2013, Customer Service on 2380 2380, or any HSBC branch in Malta HP unveils its most powerful Tigné Point's new seafront Thin Client residences to be unveiled this month HP announced its most powerful thin client solution, the HP t820 Flexible Series Thin Client, to help businesses thrive with outstanding performance, security and manageability. HP also announced support for new NVIDIA GRID cards for the HP WS460c Generation 8 (Gen8) Graphics Server Blade. Aimed at reducing price per user and boosting performance for graphics in virtualized environments, the HP WS460c – combined with the HP Multi-GPU Carrier, a graphics adapter card enabling up to eight users per blade – delivers the most comprehensive blade server graphics portfolio. "There is new and growing demand in today's market for quad-core processing and multimedia graphics on thin clients," said Kobi Elbaz, vice president, Commercial Personal Systems, Printing and Personal Systems Group, HP EMEA. "With the HP t820, we've delivered a more advanced thin client solution to give companies the speed and performance required for their most demanding applications." The HP t820 Flexible Series Thin Client offers users powerful performance and graphics combined with enterprise-level security, ensuring an organisation's sensitive data is secured on the server even if its devices are compromised, lost or stolen. The HP t820 benefits organizations in industries – such as financial trading, architecture, engineering, and military or government agencies – that require high-performance computing to run specialty programs. Enhanced features on the HP t820 includes a powerful processing with Intel Core i5 or Intel Pentium. The HP t820 is eight times faster than the HP t610 Flexible Thin Client and can control large amounts of data and multiple applications at once, allowing employees to increase productivity by viewing information on more than one monitor. HP updated the HP WS460c Gen8 Graphics Server Blade with new NVIDIA GRID graphics cards aimed at virtualized environments. As the industry's first bladed technology that enables multiple virtualized graphics users per blade, the HP WS460c Gen8 server with NVIDIA GRID or Multi-GPU Carrier lowers the cost per user while delivering levels of graphics performance previously unavailable for desktop virtualization users. The new NVIDIA GRID K1 and K2 GPU adapters also enable multiple media-rich PC or high-end graphics users per blade by providing graphics capability to each virtual machine. Q1, Tigné Point's new block of 38 seafront apartments will be released to the market later this month, following the completion of a showflat being designed by Martin Xuereb & Associates. This is the latest phase of this award-winning project by MIDI plc where all previously released properties are now sold. The latest offering captures the essence of what makes Tigné Point so successful: stunning views an unparalleled lifestyle and the dramatic beauty of the Mediterranean, so close you can almost touch it. To capitalise on the exceptional views, the project lead architects, aoM partnership have created apartments with frontages of up to 34 meters - and layouts which allow for practically every room to enjoy the open views. Terraces are also designed with this in mind and were created for lazy sundowners and long drawn out dinner parties. This block will be followed by the Tigne Point Business Centre which will provide some 14,000 sqm of high-grade office space and underlying catering outlets overlooking Pjazza Tigné and the open sea. Possibly the best aspect of Tigné Point is at it provides all the convenience and practicality of Sliema life with the added advantage of a car-free environment as the entire development was designed to eliminate vehicular traffic. Ample parking has been built underground and all amenities are situated within walking distance. Amenities include a shopping mall, supermarket, health and leisure amenities and excellent restaurants and cafeterias overlooking fabulous Valletta views or the central Pjazza Tigné - which is rapidly becoming the vibrant heart of the development. More information is available at www. Q1.com.mt Farsons Group reports a steady financial performance but comments on challenging outlook In today's company announcement, the directors of Simonds Farsons Cisk plc reported that the group turnover for the six months ending 31 July 2013 increased by 2.7% to exceed €40 million, while profit after tax stood at €3.8 million, a marginal improvement over the record performance of the first six months of the previous financial year. The attainment of the targeted efficiencies following the investment in the new Brewhouse and energy projects, increased export volumes and turnover along with record tourist numbers were positive contributors to the results. On the other hand, the Board noted that competition remains acute and as a result, gross margins were under pressure. Lower evening temperatures during the peak summer were also not conducive to high demand for carbonated soft drinks and waters. Finally, the Board noted the lost representation of key brands in the food importation segment, as a result of the consolidation by a foreign principal, as having a negative impact on the results. Commenting on the interim results and the outlook for the forthcoming months, the Group's Chief Executive Officer, Norman Aquilina, stated that "While we are satisfied with the steady performance for the first six months, it is critical to underline that the market is expected to remain challenging, causing pressures on volumes and margins. Growth through investment, innovation and exports continues to be at the centre of the Group's strategic vision and much remains to be done to fully pursue this vision. Achieving the right level of profitability is very important to be able to sustain the continued level of investment necessary to further strengthen our competitive advantage." As announced by the Chairman, Louis Farrugia, at the last AGM, the Board is at this time evaluating an important and material investment in a new state-of-the-art Beer Packaging Hall designed to improve the efficiency levels, produce the requirements for the local market and provide added capacity to exploit export market opportunities. A decision in this respect is expected towards the end of the current financial year. The Board of Directors recommended an interim dividend of €1 million, equivalent to €0.0333 per share. The interim dividend is higher than last year but the Board noted that the increase was intended to have a more balanced payout over the year and should not be construed to mean that the aggregate dividend (interim and final) would be higher than last year.