Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/602829
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 18 NOVEMBER 2015 11 Business Today www.creditinfo.com.mt info@creditinfo.com.mt Tel: 2131 2344 Your Local Partner for Credit Risk Management Solutions Supporting you all the way Cinemas register 653,002 admissions in 2014 In 2014, cinemas in Malta and Gozo projected 368 different fi lm titles and registered a total of 653,002 admissions, results of a survey show. The survey was carried out among all eight cinema establishments in Malta and Gozo and it revealed that in 2014, they had 35 screens and a total seating capacity of 6,784. The survey findings revealed that 17.1 per cent, which is less than one-fifth of the screens, were still equipped with the traditional analog film format, while 31.4% were equipped to project digital non-3D films only, and 45.7% were equipped to project in digital 3D format. Results also showed that 27 theatres in seven cinema establishments were accessible to persons with disabilities. According to the survey, the largest share of admissions, 73.1%, was registered for films with the United States as their country of origin while total admissions for digital 3D movies accounted for 12.8% of the total, with 81.6% were for digital non- 3D films. "Films originating from Malta registered 4.2% of total admissions and on average, Maltese films enjoyed the highest number of admissions per film," figures show. Data showed that the total number of film titles exhibited in 2014 was 368, with just over half of the films produced in the United States, while five films were produced locally. Results show that total screenings amounted to 47,384, with an average of 128.8 screenings for every film and a total of 815 film shows were projected in 2014, of which 77.1% were first-time releases. "In 2014, the most popular movies were "Maleficent", "Simshar" and "The Hobbit: Battle of Five Armies", and the largest share of admissions was registered for fiction films, which attracted just over 78% of total audiences," the survey revealed. According to results, films pertaining to the animation genre registered the highest average admissions for every film, with 3,227 admissions per film screened during the reference year. Results added that in 2014, the highest number of staff members working in cinema establishments was in the first three months, at 162, with most staff members working on a part-time basis. CISCO technology seminar to tackle issues in cloud networking Various speakers from CISCO Meraki, each an expert in his re- spective fi eld, will be in Malta spe- cifi cally to deliver presentations during a seminar about the latest technologies in the fi eld of Cloud Networking. They will tackle sub- jects related to the topic, including CISCO's cloud strategy, and will be followed by a live demo . Organised by ICT Solutions on Thursday, 19 November 2015, the Seminar is free of charge for IT professionals. Attendees may register online at www.ictsolutions. com.mt . "CISCO have always been leaders in networking technologies. With their acquisition of Meraki, they have taken their cloud- based technologies to a next level and, in particular, continued to consolidate their market lead in the WIFI deployment and network security area. At ICT, we continue to build our expertise and portfolio to allow our clients to migrate to the cloud, and our partnership with Meraki is an important step in this direction," said Liam Pace, Manager Commercial Services at ICT. Held from 8:30 till 13:30 at Le Meridien Hotel, Balluta, the seminar will be followed by a networking lunch. ICT Solutions is a leading systems integrator in Malta, and CISCO Premier Partner. It is best at understanding the different business needs of corporate customers, and in then integrating IT and communications technologies to offer real solutions to these needs. The quality and commitment of the ICT team is the company's main strength and ensures that the company always delivers to customer expectations. More information may be found at www.ictsolutions.com.mt Market commentary: How terrorism impacts stock markets Stock markets are inherently good at refl ecting the latest news through the pricing of assets, and news of terror- ism is far from an exception as these acts create uncertainty and uncer- tainty leads to sharp movements in markets. On September 10, 2001, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 9,605.51. Following the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks, the market reopened on September 17 at a low of 8,755.46, it would take the U.S markets over a month to recoup those losses. Although this incident is one of the most extreme examples of what terrorist activity can do to markets as it hit the world's financial centre, each attack is different but always leads to weakened market confidence, irrespective of the location and targets. Following the tragic attacks in Paris, there were several sectors that felt the impact, however the most affected are usually those that are exposed to tourism. Prime examples would be Airlines and Travel shares due to the renewed uncertainty when or where the next attack would be. Due to this it is likely that many people that had planned a vacation for the coming months would either cancel or postpone, causing a large unexpected loss in revenue for such companies. Evidence of this in Paris were shares of airline Air France and AccorHotels that both fell over 5% whilst Aeroports de Paris SA which runs Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris fell close to 4%. Other European examples are holiday travel coordinator TUI AG that dropped more than 4% and Thomas Cook Group PLC dropped close to 5% following the attacks. The market reaction was not only limited to European companies but also spread over to U.S names including Delta Air Lines and American Airlines Group Inc that both fell close to 3% There are however a few investments that can be seen as safe havens following or in anticipation of terror attacks. One of the more popular safe havens is gold. Gold jumped the most in almost a month following the terror attacks because it is an investment that is expected to retain its value or even increase its value in times of market turbulence. Safe havens are sought after by investors to limit their exposure to losses in the event of market downturns and high levels of uncertainty. Other examples of investments that increase in value following a terrorist attack are war stocks such as Shares of Lockheed Martin and Raytheon. These shares gained 4% after the attacks, fueling its second-biggest gain in three years, these companies make the weapons and vehicles used in the fight against the war on terror so defence stocks bounce in anticipation of higher demand. While there is no perfect strategy for hedging against terrorism, there are stocks that are less likely to be hurt if the market is rocked by an attack. Having said this, the market reaction so far has been fairly content with U.S indices moving higher yesterday and European markets adding over 1.5% this morning. This article was issued by Andrew Cassar Torregiani, Trader/Analyst at Calamatta Cuschieri. For more information visit, www.cc.com.mt. The information, view and opinions provided in this article is being provided solely for educational and informational purposes and should not be construed as investment advice, advice concerning particular investments or investment decisions, or tax or legal advice. Calamatta Cuschieri & Co. Ltd has not verified and consequently neither warrants the accuracy nor the veracity of any information, views or opinions appearing on this newspaper.