Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/307854
12 Business Today maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 7 MAY 2014 GO delivers strong 2013 financial results Telecommunications firms declares dividend of €0.07 GO plc delivered a strong set of re- sults for the year ended 31 December 2013, with revenues of €122 million, profit from core trading operations amounting to €18 million and net cash from operations of almost €40 million. GO chairman Deepak Padmanabhan said that in spite of extensive competition and regulatory pressures negatively impacting operations, GO delivered impressive financial results thanks to the confidence that customers continue to place in GO's products and services and its dedicated and committed employees. "Our present and future success depends on our ability to assess accurately both our industry and the wider economic realities in order to be able to make the right investment decisions for our business," Padmanabhan said. GO's CEO Yiannos Michaelides presented shareholders with a detailed review of the market context in which GO operates, the most significant developments and achievements of 2013, and the strategy for future development of the business. GO's chief financial officer Edmond Brincat briefed shareholders on the Group's financial performance and provided an update on GO's investment in the Greece-based operator Forthnet through Forgendo, including GO's participation in the capital increase concluded earlier this year. Brincat also briefed shareholders on the rationale and evaluation which lead to GO investing in Cyprus-based cable operator Cablenet. "GO will remain focussed on continuously improving every aspect of the business, its operations, and interactions with customers who have made us the leading provider of telecommunications services in Malta. We are ready more than ever to take on challenges while seizing new opportunities," Padmanabhan said. The AFM approved the payment of a net dividend of €0.07 per share (net of taxation). MISCO publishes salaries and benefits report for ICT sector MISCO has just conducted and pub- lished its ninth edition of its Salaries & Benefits Report for the ICT sector. The report is a comprehensive study of twenty-two ICT positions of staff work- ing in and from Malta and covers a total of eight hundred seventy remuneration packages. Compiled over a period of three months, spanning from January to March 2014, this report provides its end- user with the most complete, up-to-date, reliable and realistic insight of what the ICT sector is paying for its human talent. The report covers ICT companies ranging from full IT service firms, software houses, web development, iGaming organisations, IT departments pertaining to the financial and services sectors as well as other information communication companies. A number of new positions are also featured for the first time in this year's report namely Account Executive, IT Network Engineer, Senior IT Technician, Network Technician, Hardware Technician, Web Designer and Graphic Designer. One of the main findings revealed in this year's study is an increase in the total remuneration packages of IT Managers, IT Engineers and Database Administrators. The ICT sector is one of Malta's fast growing economic pillars. In fact during 2013, the ICT sector has contributed to 5.2% of Malta's GDP, which is among the highest in Europe. Within this scenario, programming roles remain the leading role in terms of amount of employees required and in consideration of the increased use of the web, the requests for Web Developers has seen a constant increase with the most commonly used languages being HTML5, CSS and JavaScript. "In today's intense and competitive environment in the quest for talent, it is vital to understand the significance of remuneration in attracting the right people because no company wants to be represented by employees who are employed just for their salary. Even though salary is a major factor, it is just one of the many in an attractive employee value proposition," said Joseph F X Zahra, Director of MISCO. "Our consultants have conducted a great number of one-to-one data collection meetings with company representatives to collect company salary structures as well as other compensation components and we are glad with this in-depth and very interesting report which we are now making available to all those companies operating in this sector," Zahra added. "Our intention is that this report will encourage fair compensation for individual practitioners while helping businesses remain competitive in their quest for talent. MISCO encourages employers to use this report, along with other resources such as performance appraisals and job evaluations, to provide compensation that reflects the appropriate job value, while keeping in mind the current labour market conditions," Zahra said. The report also includes an overview of the current ICT sector in relation to future opportunities offered by the sector. The report outlines how ICT companies are constantly specialising and this is creating more need for specialist skills in several areas such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) consultants and business intelligence (BI) experts. At the moment we have a large supply of generalists but this puts the onus of training on the employer, who might not necessarily have the time and the resources required to provide such training. This is why the provision of top-notch ICT professional resources is critical to sustain growth and if local companies cannot find people to employ they will be impacted in a severe manner. Education plays an important role in developing a workforce to support the ICT sector and if courses are more practical, they should help minimise the training periods that organisations would need to go through with new employees. Placing an emphasis on cloud and web- based technologies is of great importance given their rise in the modern world. Therefore, it is essential for individuals looking to work in this field to invest their time in learning more about these subjects so as to be better equipped for future opportunities. "In general, Malta should seek to invest in more specialised staff. The country has experience a sizable growth in foreign employees which at the moment amounts to one in every eight employees. Whilst a mixture within the workforce is considered to be beneficial it is also important to plan for the future. Most employers are required to employ foreigners since locals would not have the required specialisation, thus as a country it is important that we equip the future work force with the right skills to sustain the demand which is to come from the ICT sector," the report states. Illicit trade abuse 'intensified since EU membership' Illicit trade has been a persistent scourge affecting wide sections of local business ever since Malta joined the European Union. Accord- ing to the president of the Chamber of Commerce David Curmi, the abuse has since intensified further. A Chamber delegation led by Curmi met with the parliamentary committee for economic and financial affairs on Monday evening. During this meeting, the Chamber delved into illicit trade in some detail, and explained how it affected local business, while suggesting remedies to counteract it in the future. Of significant interest is the Chamber's suggestion that a multi- departmental single authority should be set up, urgently. "This authority should be responsible of fair and effective market surveillance, both in terms of fiscal and quality. The authority would proactively enforce taxes, laws and regulations on those that operate below the compliance radar and beyond the knowledge of any authority," Curmi said. The Chamber said collaboration between local and foreign authorities, particularly fiscal, should be enhanced. It also called for a thorough cost-benefit analysis of import related rules and procedures. "Repeal those that are superseded but enforce those that remain valid," Curmi added. The Chamber argued that illicit trade was a matter of national concern because it hit the country from various angles, including that of placing undue risks on consumer health and safety and compromising national security. Illicit trade allows unfair competition between law-abiding companies and others that go about their business in total disregard of all laws, including fiscal and environmental. It also "severely" reduces the appetite for investment in the affected sectors to the detriment of their competitiveness. Moreover, illicit trade significantly impacts government revenue and distorts national trade statistics. Throughout the discussion, the Malta Chamber emphasised that it was making its representations in full recognition of the parameters regulating the free movement of goods within the European Single Market and stood in full support of a liberalised and competitive business environment – provided this was fair and equitable. The Chamber said effectively fighting illicit trade was in the interest and safety of consumers; it ensures a general adherence to all laws and regulations of the country including fiscal and restores fair competition between all economic operators on the island. Download the MaltaToday App now GO Chairman Deepak Padmanabhan addressing the shareholders during the annual general meeting Chamber of Commerce President David Curmi