Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/448091
Events 28 maltatoday, Sunday, 18 January 2015 This month Vodafone is celebrat- ing the thirtieth anniversary of Britain's first-ever mobile phone call, which was made on the newly- launched Vodafone UK network on 1 January 1985. This historic call was made on one of the first ever mobile devices, a Transportable Vodafone VT1, which weighed around 5kg. Thirty years later, Vodafone is an industry leader with over 438 mil- lion customers globally, mobile op- erations in 26 countries and fixed broadband operations in 17 coun- tries. Vodafone Malta, which was set up in 1989 as Vodafone's very first overseas venture, has also been re- sponsible for all the major 'firsts' in the development of the telecommu- nications sector in Malta. The first ever mobile call in Malta was in fact made on the Vodafone network in 1990. It is also the first Maltese mobile service provider to offer its cus- tomers a 4G network and has been steadily rolling out this network over the past year. PSA Peugeot Citroën worldwide sales up 4.3% in 2014 Vodafone celebrates 13th anniversary of first mobile call made in the United Kingdom GreenPak registers record increase in glass collection in 2014 The Group sustained its results in a growing, yet fragile market in Eu- rope. Group sales in Europe rose 8.1% year-on-year to 1,761,000 units, ref lecting the favourable market reaction to the Peugeot 308, voted 2013 car of the year (56,900 units sold), and the positive results of the Citroën c4 Cactus. Registrations of Peugeot-brand vehicles increased by 6.2% to 952,000 units. The range's updated and consistent model line-up, com- bined with the dealership network's management of net pricing and a high standard of service quality en- hanced the brand's attractiveness and helped it deliver robust, prof- itable growth. Peugeot gained 0.3 points in the consumer sales chan- nel, a benchmark indicator. Citroën outperformed the market while focusing on the most profita- ble distribution channels, with reg- istrations up 7.2% to 689,000 units and market share gains in France, the United Kingdom, Spain and Germany. This positive momen- tum was driven by the brand's suc- cessful product offensive, headed in particular by the new C4 Picas- so, the European MPV leader with 120,000 units sold in 2014, and the year's three successful model launches: the new jumper intro- duced in April (31,000 units sold), the new C1 (41,000 units sold) and the C4-Cactus introduced in June (42,000 units sold). DS registrations in Europe to- talled 85,900 units. The brand is concentrating on profitable sales channels to preserve its models' long-term resale value. In addition, 61 dedicated points of sale (58 DS salons and three DS stores) have been opened. The year was shaped by a technological offensive that in- cluded the introduction of six new powertrains and a new xenon full- led signature. The Peugeot, Citroën and ds brands all set new sales records in China, which is now the group's largest market. The Chinese market again ex- panded significantly, with demand up 11,5%. The group achieved unit sales of 734,000, lifting its market share to 4.4% from 3.6% in 2013. The Peugeot brand had another record year with unit sales rising 43.1% to 386,565, the strongest increase among the market's top 20 players. The Peugeot 3008 and 2008 fully benefited from growth in the SUV segment and accounted for a third of Dongfeng Peugeot's sales. In the c segment, which rep- resents 52% of the Chinese passen- ger car market, the new Peugeot 408 got off to a quick start with 30,943 units sold in four months. The brand also added 100 dealer- ships to its network in 2014. Citroën also outpaced the mar- ket, setting a new sales record with growth of 14.3% to 320,000 units sold. China now accounts for more than one out of four Citroën sold worldwide and has confirmed its status as the brand's leading market, ahead of France. This performance was driven in part by the success of recent launches, including the new Citroën C-Elysée, Dongfeng Citroën's best-selling model with more than 100,000 units sold in 2014, and the Citroën c4-l, which sold 66,000 units during the year. The brand extended its line-up in December with the introduction of the c3-xr SUV. The year's per- formance was also supported by Dongfeng Citroën's increasingly tight-knit and well-respected deal- ership network, which ranked first in jd power's 2014 china sales satis- faction index (SSI) study. IHI and IHGH majority shareholders reach conditional agreement International Hotel Investments p.l.c. (IHI) and Island Hotels Group Holdings p.l.c. (IHGH), announce that following discussions in recent weeks with a significant majority of IHGH shareholders, a conditional agreement has been signed with the objective of merging the assets and operations of IHGH within those of IHI through the acquisition by IHI of IHGH. IHGH believes that an acquisition of its assets, management expertise and businesses by IHI represents an opportunity for IHGH shareholders to crystallise their investment at a fair price while continuing to form part of the future success of IHI. Concurrently, IHI believes that this acquisition will contribute significant synergies, gains and benefits. These include operational synergies across the board and ad- ditional development opportunities that will arise as a result of an amal- gamation of IHGH's hotel operation in St George's Bay with that of IHI's own neighbouring hotels. Both companies are also actively involved in the catering sector, in Malta and overseas. The combined experiences will create efficiencies in existing operations all round, and provide a stronger platform for international growth. The agreement is subject to the satisfaction of various conditions over the coming months, includ- ing but not limited to, compliance with regulatory requirements and obtaining shareholders' approvals, as and where necessary, as well as, among other terms and conditions, conducting a satisfactory due dili- gence on IHGH. Based on publicly available infor- mation and IHI's analysis, IHI has indicated a tentative Enterprise Value of € 106.5 million and a ten- tative Net Equity Value of IHGH of €50 million. Based on the completion of a sat- isfactory due diligence, and the in- dicative value confirmed, IHI has indicated that it would proceed with a voluntary offer for all the shares of IHGH in which the price for IHGH shares would be paid as to €1 in cash, split into two tranch- es, the first tranche of €0.55c pay- able on completion and the second tranche payable 12 months later. In addition to this cash component IHGH shareholders will also receive 0.246 IHI shares for each IHG share held through the issue of 9 million shares by IHI. It is expected that, in due course, IHI and IHGH will make a further announcements confirming the terms and conditions upon which IHI shall proceed to make a volun- tary offer for all the shares in IHGH in the event that all conditions are ultimately satisfied. As part of the conditional agree- ment the management of IHGH will remain unchanged and will continue to operate all IHGH busi- nesses as normal. The agreement also anticipates that the current jobs within the respective compa- nies will be safeguarded. An impressive increase of 114% in its door-to-door glass collection between 2013 and 2014 has been registered by GreenPak Coopera- tive Society Limited. This effectively means that over 514 tonnes of glass have been col- lected during last year – a remark- able 274 tonnes more than 2013. Since the inauguration of the glass scheme in 2012, GreenPak has managed to divert over 819 tonnes of glass from landfills in Malta to be exported for recycling. The door-to-door glass collection scheme is held every first Friday of the month, while in Gozo, this serv- ice is operated every first Thursday of the month. GreenPak's significant increase is not accidental but the result of a continuous sustained effort in pro- viding high quality service to the community it services, and keeping the residents informed with regular educational campaigns and reward- ing schemes. GreenPak's recycling advisors regularly visit households explaining the glass collection service. Ing. Mario Schembri, GreenPak Coop Society CEO, explains that: "As the largest waste recovery scheme in Malta, GreenPak contin- uously endeavours to instil aware- ness within the communities it serves to recycle more glass, plastic, metal and paper through the wide range of services we offer. Chiefly amongst them are the recycling bags kerbside collections, bring-in sites and specific material collec- tions, such as for glass." "When we first launched the glass collection scheme, we knew it was another step in the right direction towards increasing the recovery of recyclable materials in a more sustainable and feasible way. The decisions taken by an increasing number of Local Councils to mi- grate to GreenPak's waste recycling scheme are further leading to sig- nificant results and helping in the national effort to reach the EU re- cycling targets. We are determined to generate even better results dur- ing 2015," he added. GreenPak Coop Society is a MEPA authorised scheme and is a founding member of EXPRA, the European organisation promoting producer responsibility schemes internationally. GreenPak is also backed by PROEurope, an umbrella organisation of 35 national produc- er responsibility systems engaged in the selective collection and recy- cling of packaging waste. For more information regarding GreenPak, including its waste col- lection scheme, bring-in-sites and other information one can visit the GreenPak website www.greenpak. com.mt or contact them on tel- ephone: 2166 0233. Michael Harrison making Britain's first-ever mobile phone call