Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/834699
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 31 MAY 2017 14 Business Today Low-cost airline Ryanair ex- pects fares to keep falling, al- though the decline will be less steep than last year. This came as the Irish airline reported profits of almost €1.32 billion for 2017 and announced plans to return €600 million to shareholders. Ryanair yesterday said revenues in the 12 months ended March 31st – its financial year – rose 2% to €6.65 billion. It grew profits after tax by 6% to €1.32 billion from €1.24 billion over the same period. The Irish airline also said fares would fall by between 5% and 7% in the 12 months to March 2018, partly due to the weakness of the pound. In the previous financial year they fell by 13%. The carrier expects to increase passengers by 8% to 130 million in the current financial year, which ends on March 31, 2018. Chief executive Michael O'Leary said the airline grew profits in the face of difficult conditions caused by terror attacks in Europe and a sharp fall in sterling following the Brexit vote. Ryanair, which campaigned for Britain to remain in the EU, said a "hard Brexit" - in which the UK leaves the EU without a trade deal - was a significant risk as it could disrupt UK-EU flights. He said that the airline believed that profits this financial year could rise 8% to between €1.4 billion and €1.45 billion, subject to a range of uncertainties. "Investors should be wary of the risk of negative Brexit developments, or any repeat of last year's security events at European cities, which could damage consumer confidence, close-in bookings, and this full-year-18 guidance," he cautioned. The airline, which flies 1,800 daily flights across 33 countries, attributed its lower fares to competition among European airlines and the weakness of the pound since the Brexit vote. www.creditinfo.com.mt info@creditinfo.com.mt Tel: 2131 2344 Your Local Partner for Credit Risk Management Solutions Supporting you all the way Ryanair makes €1.32 billion profi t as lower fares expected Ryanair fl ew 120 million passengers in the course of its fi nancial year, up 13% on the previous year 'We're a business model for Europe' – Malta Business CEO Malta, Panama of Europe? Not according to Malta Business chief executive offi cer Sergio Passariello, who has insisted that the island is a strategic partner for Italian and interna- tional companies that can seize EU opportunities, of the Eng- lish Commonwealth and Arab countries. "Malta is fully integrated into the European Community – its application for accession dates back to 1994 and formally it joined in 2004, negotiating its entry as every state must do. Furthermore, it is not in any blacklist, having adhered to all European treaties on tax information exchange, anti- money laundering, competition and privacy law," Passariello, an Italian businessman, said in a reaction on the Malta Files, a journalistic endeavour that shed light on Malta's taxation regime for intentional companies. "The benefits granted to those who invest in Malta have been negotiated with the EU and have passed the OECD examination. This is not a low tax rate but a tax incentive that returns to members part of taxation for investing in the Maltese state," Passariello said of the six-sevenths rebate paid on the 35% tax paid on foreign-generated income. Passariello said that various EU states had their own tax incentives. "Last year, Germany set a tax exemption for investment income in venture capital in companies resident in Germany active in research and development." Italy is also planning 30% tax deductions for those investing in innovative SMEs, as well as predicting a super- depreciation of 140% on the purchase of new assets, and a hyper-amortization of 250% for investment in technology- related assets. France, on the other hand, has focused on start-ups, exempting the profits distributed by them and with an allowance scheme for capital gains depending on the holding period of the holdings with a 50% reduction if the holding is more than one year, 65% if it is older than four years and 85% if older than eight years. Spain has granted a reduced rate of 15% for start-ups. It also reduces the tax base of corporation tax for patents, designs, business secrets and know-how to 60%. In addition, there are European States where taxation is privileged and with low labour costs, such as Bulgaria and Hungary, where taxes are fixed at a fixed rate of 10%. "This picture highlights that tax competition is at the forefront of the policy of all European national governments because it is the key to attract investment in their own country," Passariello said. The CEO said that even the report 'Fifty Shades of Tax Dodging', from the Eurodad network, found Luxembourg and Germany, offering a rich menu of possibilities to conceal true corporate property.