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maltatoday, SUNDAY, 26 MARCH 2017 Events 45 Glitch Festival announce biggest line-up ever to hit David Campignon for Manoel piano recital After last year's ground-shakingly successful debut, Glitch Festival - Malta's boldest electronic mu- sic festival - is coming back with it's second edition. This summer, electronic music enthusiasts from all over the world are once again called to gather at the gates of the mystical House-and-Techno for- tress for two solid days on a sonic adventure on the Mediterranean island of Malta. Party-goers can lap up the last of the summer sunshine against a backdrop of sun-kissed house and disco followed by darker, disjoint- ed techno, acid and electro which will take the party through the night. The 2017 edition of Glitch Festival will officially take place over the 7th and 8th of September at Gianpula fields, framed against the iconic skyline of Malta's forti- fied city, Mdina. Glitch Festival will feature mul- tiple stages and promises a di- verse quality line-up of industry titans, including Maceo Plex, Jon Hopkins, Marcel Dettmann, Ben Klock and Recondite. A rare ap- pearance by the legendary Mr. G will also be one of the Festival's highlights, together with Drexci- ya-affiliated DJ Stingray, Blawan, Dax J, Legowelt, Vril, Palms Trax, DJ Seinfeld, Jupiter Jax, Hail Blk and more. On Wednesday, 29th March 2017 at 8pm, Teatru Manoel will pre- sent Belgian national David Cam- pignon who will be performing a piano recital. David Campignon was born in Japan, where he studied piano with the late Puig-Roget and Yas- ukawa. At the age of fifteen years, he moved to France, and studied piano performance, at CNR de Saint Maur ( where he was award- ed three gold médals in 1990) and won numerous prizes of excellen- cy in piano performance. He has performed in concerts throughout France: in Paris at the Salle Gaveau, Fondation des Etats- Unis, Salle Franck-Schola, église Paris-Luxembourg St Mar- cel, Bethanie, Auditorium Saint Germain des Prés, édition Ilyfunet Atelier de la main d'or, Paroisse Breuteruil Paris 7e. Campignon is a winner of sever- al competitions, and has received prices including 1st Prize with Absolute Majority in 2000 at Villa Franca Tirrena Sicily Italy, Demi- Finaliste Diploma of Honour sta- tus at Maria Canals Barcelone, amongst many other awards and recognitions. David Campignon has per- formed in Malta. Maltese Music critic Albert Storace had writ- ten: « David Campignon: This interpreter showed that Schubert could make his point with the greatest of charm… He was the one who could make the piano sing. The other side of Schubert is there too: the dramatic pas- sages, the pathos, lyrical warmth and high passion. Many different emotions went through a transi- tion that developed according to bold rhythmic structure and al- ways with Campignon's assertive yet elegant, tasteful touch. » On this occasion, David Cam- pignon will be performing Pieces from Romeo and Juliet by Sergei Prokofieff, Chorale Prelude in F. Minor by Bach-Busoni, Sonata in G. Minor Didone Abbondonata by Clementi, Ballade in F. Major by Chopin, Variations by Brahms – Pagani, and Three Movements from Petrouschka by Stravinsky. David Campignon in a pi- ano recital at Teatru Manoel on Wednesday, 29th March 2017 at 8pm. Tickets can be purchased by contacting the Teatru Manoel Booking Office on 21 246389, bookings@teatrumanoel.com.mt, or by visiting www.teatrumanoel. com.mt. Senior citizens and students are eligible for discounted tickets for this concert, on presentation of relevant documentation. Mapfre MSV Life registers €11.5 profit before tax MAPFRE MSV Life p.l.c. ("MAP- FRE MSV Life") registered a profit before tax of €11.6 million for the year ended 31 December 2016, down 25.6% on the previous year where a €15.6 million profit before tax was generated but which was influenced by a one- off pre-tax gain of €5.05m arising as a result of a major restructur- ing of the Company's reinsurance programme replacement as from financial year 2015. Profit after tax stood at €8.6 million, down 14.9% on the previous year. Operating results were sup- ported by strong inflows of pre- mium revenue across the Com- pany's range of life insurance, savings and investment products resulting from stronger customer demand. Gross premiums written for financial year 2016 increased by 23.5% from €220.8 million to €272.6 million. This was mainly due to an increased demand across all products in particular single premium savings contracts and life protection business. Claims increased to €144.4 mil- lion through the year compared to a prior year €109.2 million due to a higher amount of maturing medium-term single premium contracts, the large proportion of which has subsequently been re-invested in new medium-term contracts. In aggregate the balance on the long term business technical ac- count decreased to €10.7 million from a prior year €14.1 million as a result of the non-recurring gain from the restructuring of the reinsurance programme in 2015 but the technical result was still supported by strong business growth and technical perfor- mance. The MAPFRE MSV Group's total assets increased by 10.7% from €1,743.9 million at the end of 2015 to €1,930.4 million at the end of 2016, whilst net technical provisions (including investment contracts without DPF) increased by 11.0% from €1,561.1 million in 2015 to €1,733.4 million in 2016. The value of in-force business, which projects future transfers to sharehold- ers arising from policies in force at the end of the year, increased by 12.4% from €53.4 million in 2015 to €60.0 million in 2016. This is partially attribut- able to the future value of business written during the year and the impact of the year's updated mortality assump- tions. Equity and bond markets pro- duced robust yet somewhat weak- er returns than those generated in prior year with net investment income decreasing from €91.2 million in 2015 to €78.1 million in 2016. Investment performance was underpinned by the Compa- ny's conservative and diversified portfolio of assets, as well as by the rigorous and prudent invest- ment management process that is so important in the management of life insurance companies. Total shareholders' funds at the close of 2016 amounted to €160.3 million (2015: €150.2 million), an increase of 6.7% over the previ- ous year. The net asset value per share has increased from €6.86 as at the end of 2015 to €7.32 per share driven by the underlying profit- ability of the business. The Directors recommended the payment of a final net divi- dend of €11.55 million (2015: €5.00 million). The Company's expected Solvency II Ratio as at 31 December 2016 reported to the MFSA is 307% and 288% before and after the payment of dividend respectively. The Chairman of MAPFRE MSV Life, Mr. John Cassar White stated, "2016 was another chal- lenging year for insurance com- panies as investment conditions were characterised by continuing low interest rates, low inflation and a relatively weak Euro cur- rency resulting in lower realised yields and stable unrealised gains when compared to the prior year. This investment environment is not ideal for a long-term investor like MAPFRE MSV Life." The Chief Executive Officer of MAPFRE MSV Life, Mr. David G. Curmi, stated, "2016 marked another strong performance for MAPFRE MSV Life. During 2016 we rebranded as MAPFRE MSV Life p.l.c. reflecting better our new corporate roots and align- ing with the brand promises of our ultimate owner MAPFRE. We believe that this investment in our branding reinforces the identity of the Malta brand, adds a new layer of value by connect- ing the Company to the MAPFRE Group and gives the Company an important international dimen- sion." Mr. Curmi added, "we are to- tally committed to maintain a strong focus on our customers by regularly assessing our busi- ness processes and operations in order to provide good value and excellent service. We regard the continuous uplift of our service to our customers as the clear path to sustainable competitive advantage. To this end we will continue to invest and innovate in information technology. Dur- ing 2016 we made significant pro- gress on our core IT project and commenced on a series of prod- uct rollouts from old legacy sys- tems to new technologies. This will enable us to offer superior levels of service to our customers. In tandem we have a number of initiatives lined up to strengthen further our digital platform and widen our digital marketing strategy." Check out www.glitchfestival.com for more info.