Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/612918
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 9 DECEMBER 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 MIA registers positive passenger fi gures in November Malta International Airport re- leased its passenger fi gures for No- vember, showing an uptick in both passenger fi gures, seat occupancy and seat capacity. Passenger figures this November have continued the upward trend, which has characterized this year's overall performance, increasing by 10.6% over the same period last year and equivalent to an additional 27,250 passenger movements. Seat capacity grew by 9.4% thanks to greater route frequencies, while the number of occupied seats on flights also increased from 80% to 81.3%. The top five destinations last month saw one major shift in which Turkey displaced Switzerland after achieving an impressive 63.4% rise in passengers due to increased flights to Istanbul. This November two of the airport's top five markets saw a slight dip in traffic numbers with France and Germany dropping by -3.6% and -0.2% respectively. The rest outperformed the same period last year, with Italy registering an 18% increase in passengers and the UK market increasing by 1.9%. Spain also bolstered its traffic figures by more than double as a result of new operations to and from Barcelona this winter. In November the maximum take- off weight (MTOW) increased by 12.5% Cargo & Mail Last month, Cargo and Mail marked an increase of 11.5%, reaching 1,476 tonnes. Overall traffic figures show that over 300,000 more journeys started and ended at the airport this year. Passenger movements have risen by 7.6%, aircraft movements by 6.4%, cargo and mail by 3.4%, and seat capacity has expanded by 5.6% Melita plc to be sold to Apax Partners, Fortino Capital Melita's Board of Directors an- nounced that an agreement has been reached between Melita's current shareholders (GMT Communica- tions Partners, MC Venture Partners, Blackrock Communications and the Gasan Group) and international investors Apax Partners (France) and Fortino Capital (Belgium) for the acquisition of the company. The closing of the agreement is subject to regulatory approval by the competent authorities. Joseph Gasan, Chairman of Melita said "I am delighted that Melita, which I founded 23 years ago, is now in a position, after a period of growth and transformation, to start a new phase under new ownership". The company's management team has welcomed the deal and described it as recognition of Melita's consistent growth throughout the past years, based on a clear strategy of delivering customer value through convergence. "This transaction further highlights that Melita is recognised as one of the more advanced telecommunications players in Europe with converged fixed cable and mobile networks and services. With the support of these new shareholders, Melita will be able to continue its investment programme and growth benefiting consumers, businesses and the country as a whole", commented Andrei Torriani, CEO at Melita. "As the company continues to grow, invest and roll-out new offerings, we expect Melita to continue being a strong employer in Malta," added Torriani. Apax Partners and Fortino Capital together bring more than 30 years of experience in the Technology, Media and Telecom (TMT) sector. Through their investments and professional participation the new investors bring experience from companies such as Numericable Belgium & Luxembourg, Cabovisao, Outremer Telecom, Telenet, Primacom and KPN. Over recent years Melita completed key infrastructure investments that have been recognised by the European Commission and enabled Malta to place at the top of the European charts for next generation broadband coverage. These investments include nationwide 3G mobile network, laying of a submarine cable connecting Malta to mainland Europe, nationwide deployment of next generation broadband with speeds up to 250Mbps, construction of a state- of-the-art data centre for co-location and hosting services, as well as the roll-out of melita WIFI - the next- generation Wi-Fi service providing seamless superfast connectivity across Malta and Gozo. Melita also continues to invest in dedicated Fibre connectivity to businesses across all Malta and Gozo. Money Market Report for the week ending December 4, 2015 ECB Decisions On Thursday, December 3, the Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) decided that the interest rate on the deposit facility will be decreased by 10 basis points to -0.30%, with effect from December 9, 2015. The interest rate on the main refinancing operations (MRO) and the interest rate on the marginal lending facility will remain unchanged at 0.05% and 0.30% respectively. The Governing Council of the ECB has also decided on the following: To extend the asset purchase programme (APP). The monthly purchases of €60 billion under the APP are now intended to run until the end of March 2017, or beyond, if necessary, and in any case until the Governing Council sees a sustained adjustment in the path of inflation consistent with its aim of achieving inflation rates below, but close to, 2% over the medium term. To reinvest the principal payments on the securities purchased under the APP as they mature, for as long as necessary. This will contribute both to favourable liquidity conditions and to an appropriate monetary policy stance. To include, in the public sector purchase programme, euro- denominated marketable debt instruments issued by regional and local governments located in the euro area in the list of assets that are eligible for regular purchases by the respective national central banks. To continue conducting the MRO and three-month longer-term refinancing operations as fixed rate tender procedures with full allotment for as long as necessary, and at least until the end of the last reserve maintenance period of 2017. ECB Monetary Operations On Monday, November 30, the ECB announced its weekly MRO. The operation was conducted on Tuesday, December 1, and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €69.81 billion, €3.96 billion lower than the bid amount of the previous week. The amount was allotted in full at a fixed rate equivalent to the prevailing MRO rate of 0.05%, in accordance with current ECB policy. On Wednesday, December 2, the ECB conducted a seven-day US dollar funding operation through collateralised lending in conjunction with the US Federal Reserve. This operation attracted bids of $0.13 billion, which was allotted in full at a fixed rate of 0.63%. Domestic Treasury Bill Market In the domestic primary market for Treasury bills, the Treasury invited tenders for 28-day and 91- day bills maturing on December 31, 2015, and March 3, 2016, respectively. Bids of €4.50 million were submitted for the 28-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €1.50 million, while bids of €63.00 million were submitted for the 91-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €15.00 million. Since €3.00 million worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills increased by €13.50 million, to stand at €241.35 million. The yield from the 28-day bill auction was -0.007%, up by 1.3 basis points from bids with a similar tenor issued on November 26, 2015, representing a bid price of 100.0005 per 100 nominal. The yield from the 91-day bill auction was -0.130%, down by 8.8 basis points from bids with a similar tenor issued on November 19, 2015, representing a bid price of 100.0329 per 100 nominal. During the week under review, there was no trading on the Malta Stock Exchange. On Monday the Treasury invited tenders for 91-day and 182-day bills maturing on March 10, and June 9, 2016, respectively. Opec inaction and strengthening dollar drive oil price to seven-year low The price of oil has crashed through the $42 a barrel barrier, hitting a seven-year low of $41.77 a barrel, after Opec's meeting last week ended without agreeing to lower production. The price of crude has also been pushed lower by a strengthening dollar - the currency in which the commodity is priced - in expectation of a rate rise by the US Federal Reserve later this month. Shares in airline stocks rallied with today's news, while oil producers slumped. Shares in International Airlines Group rose 0.51pc to end at 587p, with EasyJet also up by 1.79pc, closing at £17.05. Meanwhile the major oil companies were hit by the news: Royal Dutch Shell fell by 4.56pc, BP fell by 3.36pc to close at 347.6p and BG Group fell by 4.09pc to close at 938.1p. The price of Brent crude began to tumble last week as traders tried to make sense of the acrimonious Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries gathering in Vienna, which broke up on Friday with no guidance on policy. Many smaller Opec countries had been hoping to persuade Saudi Arabia - the biggest producer in the group - to abandon its strategy of flooding the market with cheap oil to drive higher-cost producers, particularly the US shale industry, out of business. This has resulted in the oil price falling more than 60pc over the past 18 months. The latest dip means that crude oil now costs less than at any time since the depths of the financial crisis in 2008. Speaking at the International Petroleum Technology Conference in Doha, Qatar, Patrick Pouyanne, the chief executive of French energy giant Total, said he was "not very optimistic" about the recovery of oil prices. "We don't anticipate a recovery in 2016," he said. "I don't know if the price will be at $40, $45, $50, $60. In 2016 the growth of capacity will still be larger than the growth of demand. "I am not very optimistic for 2016, beyond that it is difficult to know." But Pouyanne said that Total had budgeted to deal with continued lower oil prices and ruled out any job losses in the near future.