Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/337883
Events 42 maltatoday, Sunday, 29 June 2014 Farsons reports a steady and profitable year of trading and investments GasanMamo contributes towards ALIVE 2014 Cycling Challenge Farsons Group improved its prof- itability during the financial year ending 31 January 2014 as a result of continuous operational improve- ments due to the Group's com- mitment to produce world-class products in the most efficient way possible. Moreover, Farsons is well on track with its strategic multi-million Euro investments programme. This was stated by Louis A. Farrugia, during his Chairman's address at the 67th Annual General Meeting of Simonds Farsons Cisk plc held at Palazzo Parisio, Naxxar. He said, "While the significant €12.5 million investment in the new brewhouse commissioned in 2012 is already reaping rewards, work on the latest €27 million investment in a new beer packaging facility an- nounced last February has started. This is expected to be completed by April 2016." "Furthermore, our vision is to continue growing our Maltese and international business. We aspire to broaden our horizons to become a regional food and beverage player, as clearly stated in the vision and values statement of the Farsons Group, "said Farrugia. In reviewing the performance of the Group's business and brands, Farsons Group Chief Executive Norman Aquilina said, "Despite the highly competitive environment, the Group registered yet another solid performance with profit be- fore tax surpassing €6.8 million, ex- ceeding last year's record perform- ance by almost 6%. Group turnover increased by 2%, also reaching a record figure of just under €79 mil- lion." "EBITDA (earnings before inter- est, tax, depreciation and amorti- sation) increased by €267,000 ex- ceeding last year's record level to reach €14.2 million. Our gearing improved by a further 2.29 percent- age points to 22.13%," he said. During his overview for 2013, Aq- uilina said that core segments of the group's businesses have improved their performance in terms of turn- over and segmental results. Maintaining the positive trends achieved over the past few years, exports have delivered a good per- formance in terms of value, vol- ume and profitability, representing around 6% by volume of Farsons' total production. The Group's vi- sion is to continue to grow this business. "Farsons' consistently positive re- sults demonstrate that we are well on track," said Aquilina. Max Ganado and Roderick Chalm- ers were uncontested and elected as Directors. The composition of the Board remained unchanged in that Michael Farrugia, Chalmers and Ganado were joined by the other Directors, who retired in terms of Article 98 of the Articles of Asso- ciation of the Company and who were reconfirmed in the post. All resolutions proposed at the Annual General Meeting were approved. The Annual General Meeting approved the Board's recommen- dation of a final dividend of €1.5 million, bringing the total declared dividend for the year to €2.5 mil- lion. This figure is equivalent to the amount declared last year. After the meeting, Farrugia an- nounced that, during the past months, Farsons has been actively working on developing the 'Farsons Business Park' master plan for the transformation of the iconic Old Brewhouse and former Packaging Halls on part of its Mrieħel site. A well-known British firm of in- ternational repute, Ian Ritchie Ar- chitects, has been entrusted with developing the proposed masterp- lan for the Board's eventual consid- eration. GasanMamo will be supporting ALIVE 2014 Cycling Challenge with their endeavour of cycling over 1,000km from Prague to Budapest. A group of 45 participants will cy- cle over 7 days to raise much needed awareness and collect funds for the Research, Innovation and Develop- ment Trust dedicated to breast can- cer research. "We are delighted to be part of such a worthy cause," said Mark Mamo, General Manager at GasanMamo. "Joining forces with ALIVE Char- ity Foundation makes us proud, and knowing that the challenge will bring people together to contribute gener- ously towards research for this ter- rible illness will make it all worth- while. "We have no doubt that the partici- pants will do Malta proud yet again this year after managing to collect €50,000 during last year's challenge." The cyclists will leave Malta on 9 July for Prague and will cycle through Bratislavia, Vienna and Belgrade and finish off the long ride on 18 July in Budapest. ALIVE Charity Founda- tion, a non-profit organisation fund- ed by volunteer donations and contri- butions has the main aim of raising the status of health awareness and scientific research. ALIVE constantly organise philan- thropic activities in order to collect donations for their projects. They also conduct activities aimed at in- creasing awareness in health related areas such as breast and prostrate screening and healthy eating. ALIVE thanks GasanMamo for their generous support. Without these donations the event would not be possible. Donations can be made by logging on to: www.alivecharity.com Closing the official calendar of the Royal Malta Golf Club, the IIG bank Club Championship offered three days of high quality golfing in two separate competitions. Winner Daniel Holland met tough competition from Andrew Borg (2nd place), J.J Micallef (3rd), Nicho- las Beck, John Micallef Stafrace and Quint Van Beek. Competing for the Centenary Plate were eventual winner Herbert Froehlich, John Hopper in second place and Tom Davies with third. This competition was wopen for players with a high handicap who did not make the cut for the last day of the Club Championship. IIG Bank chief executive Nigel Stibbs, also a competitor, presented Holland and Froehlick with their re- spective prizes. HSBC Malta helps customers in real-time via Twitter With the aim of continuing to increase the level of engagement with its customers, HSBC Bank Malta has recently launched its new Twitter help account via twit- ter handle @HSBC_MT_Help. Through this channel the Bank is adding another layer of interactiv- ity with its customers where users can receive real-time responses to their banking queries. Managed by a team trained to provide a dedicated social media experience through Twitter, this service is available from Monday to Friday between 8:00hrs and 16:00hrs. Tweets received after these hours will be responded to, on the following working day. Paul Steel, HSBC Malta Head of Retail Banking & Wealth Man- agement, explained the move say- ing, "We appreciate that many of our clients have a hectic lifestyle, so we wanted to offer a more con- venient, efficient and direct cus- tomer channel of support. Twitter will enable us to engage better with our customers in real time while monitoring and responding quickly to their enquiries." "We believe that the more we can interact with our customers, the more we are able to under- stand their needs," said Mr Steel. "As more and more people are benefiting from these digital tools, it therefore becomes a logi- cal step for HSBC to embrace this technology and be even more accessible, especially in today's world of ever changing technol- ogy," he said. To send a query to HSBC Mal- ta's twitter account, users may simply start interacting with @ HSBC_MT_Help followed by the question, comment or feedback. Customers are advised that con- fidential personal information, such as bank account details, are not to be included in Twitter cor- respondence or other public so- cial media networks. In the event that a customer needs to share confidential information, cus- tomers will be requested by the Bank to send their name and ID card number on a dedicated email address. Holland wins IIG Bank Club Championship From left, Andrew Borg, J J Micallef, Chief Officer Nigel Stibbs and winner Daniel Holland