The Business Observer Newspaper 14th July

INTERVIEW

Issue 55

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July 14, 2016

Distributed with Times of Malta

JOBS AT THE LOWER END OF THE LABOUR MARKET ARE NO LONGER ATTRACTIVE FOR THE MALTESE, ACCORDING TO A REPORT

BY THE CENTRAL BANK OF MALTA.

Investors in listed companies should reflect where they derive their revenue from, but how do they find out about you? Edison’s Charles Combe explains the role of research companies. see pages 10 and 11 >

NEWS After 40 years, the National Bank of Malta saga is tantalisingly close to an end, but only if the two sides can agree on who will decide on its valuation and, based on that, the compensation – no easy task. see page 3 >

Maltese moving up management hierarchy As the economy develops, more and more Maltese are moving into executive posts, abandoning roles at the other end of the job market, according to a report issued by the Central Bank of Malta.

The influx of foreign workers is having a clear impact, as those engaged in elementary occupations and in clerical and support duties have fallen from 24.6 in 2000 to 19.8 per cent in 2014.

During the same period, the proportion of managers, professional and technical staff rose from 32.5 per cent in 2000 to 38.7 per cent in 2014.

Foreign workers are employed at the extremes of the labour market: the higher end where skills are scarce (predominantly EU workers) and the lower end, where jobs are no longer attractive for the Maltese (predominantly non-EU).

In fact, the probability that an EU worker is a manager or clerical support worker is more than twice that for a Maltese – but the odds that a third-country worker has an elementary occupation are 4.5 times that for a Maltese.

“In 2000, there were close to 900 EU citizens working full-time and/or part-time in Malta”

NEWS e number of payment cards used by the Maltese is slowly but steadily growing – but we remain rather wary of buying on credit. see page 5 >

The report on the economic impact of foreign workers, prepared by CBM chief economics officer Aaron Grech, shows that in 2000 there were close to 900 EU citizens working full-time and/or part-time in Malta, significantly less than the amount of third-country nationals. By the time of Malta’s accession to the EU, the number of third-country nationals had risen by 35.8 per cent and still outnumbered the number of workers from the EU. But three years after, this had changed, with workers from EU countries overtaking those from third-countries.

By 2014, there were 15,500 EU citizens, and just 6,190 third-country nationals. continued on page 3

OPINION e Malta Stock Exchange has gone almost as far as it can in Malta in the past 25 years and the time has come for it to seek growth overseas, its chairman Joseph Portelli believes. see page 15 >

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Impasse over National Bank valuation

e role of foreign workers continued from page 1 The jobs taken up by the foreign workforce has also changed significantly. Whereas nearly 50 per cent of the rise in EU nationals working in Malta involved managers, professionals and

“Foreign workers are needed to keep the economy running”

technical staff, less than 30 per cent of the rise in third-country nationals was in these categories.

The percentage of foreigners in the workforce has risen from just 1.3 per cent in 2000 to over 10 per cent now, above the eurozone average of eight per cent.

However, foreign workers are needed to keep the economy running. In the absence of immigration, in the last eight years, Malta’s working age population would have declined by one per cent, instead of rising by three per cent. And ETC data suggests that, between 2010 and 2014, the number of fulltime and part-time jobs rose by over 25,500, which was nearly equally divided between Maltese and foreign workers, the report pointed out.

What impact do foreigners have on social services?

1,500 foreign patients used Maltese hospitals in 2008, rising to 2,300 in 2012.

1,650 foreign students went to school in Malta in 2008, rising to 2,000 in 2012.

Only 130 migrants receive unemployment benefits.

In the meantime, foreign workers account for 10.1 per cent of all personal income tax and national insurance contributions.

The amount of direct tax revenue collected from foreign workers increased nine-fold between 2000 and 2014, while that from Maltese workers doubled.

The lawyers representing the National Bank shareholders are hoping to meet the Attorney General as soon as possible in an effort to break the looming impasse over the valuation which would end the 40-year-old case.

There are 350 shareholders from the former National Bank of Malta, which was taken over by the government following a run on the bank in 1973. Court cases were instituted by shareholders and their heirs in 1992 against the Prime Minister, the Finance Minister and the Administration Council which briefly ran the bank in 1973.

In October 2014, the Constitutional Court of Appeal presided by Mr Justice Tonio Mallia, Mr Justice Noel Cuschieri and Mr Justice Joseph Azzopardi confirmed two judgments handed down earlier that year by Mr Justice Joseph Micallef. It confirmed that 82 shareholders’ rights were breached when they were forced to surrender their stakes without compensation.

Mr Justice Micallef has since then been hearing submissions from the two sides in an attempt to come up with the amount of the compensation that has to be paid.

However, in spite of the judgment by the Constitutional Court of Appeal, the government is still disputing that the bank has any value at all.

Consultants Ugolino, Nun and Chilton drew up the government’s version of the valuation in June 2015, setting it at zero, while former banker Anthony Curmi, on

behalf of the shareholders, argued that they were owed almost €325 million.

The government’s argument remains that the bank was “illiquid and insolvent” and that it therefore does not owe a cent in compensation to the shareholders.

Lawyers representing the NBM shareholders said during the last hearing on June 30 that there were three crucial points to be decided before the two sides nominate their experts. The first is whether the bank was a going concern or not – as this would determine the methodology to be applied. The second would be to agree on whether the valuation should be based on the fateful day in December 1973 – or to take into consideration the developments over several months. The third would be how to handle bad and doubtful debts, and whether to investigate the cases for which files were reported as “missing”.

Sources familiar with the case said that the court was in a difficult position as it would obviously prefer for the two sides to agree on a panel of experts drawn from nominees submitted by both. However, without agreement on these basic principles, it would be almost impossible to proceed.

The court was adjourned to October 4 in the hope that the two sides would be able to reach agreement during the summer recess. The sources said that if the two sides could not agree on the way forward, Mr Justice Micallef would have to appoint a panel of experts himself and to determine their terms of reference.

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Cards increasing by four times the rate in EU The number of payment cards being issued in Malta is increasing at more than four times the rate in the EU but it seems that while the Maltese are becoming quite used to debit cards, they remain averse to credit cards.

The number of cards in Malta increased by 22.8 per cent between 2010 and 2014, compared to the EU which only saw numbers rise by five per cent.

However, out of the 837,000 cards held by Maltese by 2014, 651,000 of them are debit cards.

In fact, the number of debit cards increased by 28 per cent, while that of credit cards is still at the low rate of 7.6 per cent.

The number of cards held by the Maltese was 1.97 cards per capita, compared to the EU average of 1.5 cards. The amounts vary by member state, with

“Maltese use their debit cards to pay an average of €1,076 per year, and their credit cards to pay €2,833” Luxembourg having 3.9 cards per capita, and Bulgaria, for example, having just one.

The amount paid by credit cards is higher per card as opposed to debit cards, with the Maltese using their credit cards to pay

€2,833 on average every year and their debit cards to pay an average of €1,076.

Neverthless, the payment methods used by the Maltese go against the European trends. Efforts to reduce cheque usage have been stunningly ineffective, with the European Central Bank reporting that the use of cheques actually crept up again to 9.7 million trans-

actions in 2014, after dipping to 7.6 million in 2012.

Central Bank governor Josef Bonnici said last April that the costs linked to electronic transfers were subsidising the prevalent cheque and cash culture, which came without charges and was more expensive to maintain.

“The solution should not be imposing a charge on cheques

but reducing the charges on electronic transfers,” he said, urging domestic banks to “move with the times” by reducing the costs of transactions.

Last year, the Consumer and Competition Authority made a number of recommendations to address the lack of competition and the high charges in the banking sector.

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NEWS

New EU rules to fight insider dealing, market manipulation A revamped EU legal framework came into force on July 3, aiming to ensure more efficient, transparent and trustworthy European financial markets.

This new rulebook will increase investor protection and confidence by allowing deeper and more integrated financial markets, and contribute to the creation of the Capital Markets Union.

The new framework will strengthen the fight against market abuse across commodity and related derivative markets, explicitly ban the manipulation of benchmarks, such as LIBOR, and reinforce the investigative and sanctioning powers of regulators.

The updated rulebook strengthens and replaces the existing EU rules on market integrity and investor protection, first adopted in 2003. It consists of the Market Abuse Regulation and the Directive on Criminal Sanctions for Market Abuse.

The Market Abuse Regulation ensures that rules keep pace with market developments, such as new trading platforms, as well as new technologies, such as high frequency trading (HFT).

The new Directive on Criminal Sanctions for Market Abuse (or Market Abuse Directive) complements the Market Abuse Regulation by requiring member states to introduce common definitions of criminal offences of insider dealing and market manipulation, and to impose maximum criminal penalties for the most serious market abuse offences.

“More efficient, transparent and trustworthy European financial markets” Member states have to make sure that such behaviour, including the manipulation of benchmarks, is a criminal offence, punishable with effective sanctions everywhere in Europe.

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INDUSTRY FOCUS

Betting on growth In 2016, there were over 400 i-gaming companies registered in Malta and with considerable growth still forecast in the sector, recruitment has become an opportunity and a challenge.

Unibet Denise Cutajar – HR advisor How many staff do you have now and how many do you anticipate having in two years time?

The Unibet Group currently employs 1,150 employees representing 48 nationalities, 350 of whom are based in Malta. We anticipate this number to grow around 15 per cent in the next two years.

How many are Maltese? What could Malta/University do to increase that number?

Fifteen per cent of our employees are Maltese (based in Malta) while across the group, five per cent of our total workforce is Maltese. Our Malta office operates mainly our customer service department which services over 27 different nationalities. Therefore our workforce needs to have specific language skills which forces us to hire from abroad. The small major-

ity of Maltese employees we have in Malta work mainly in finance, HR and player safety areas which the local University already caters for. As a digital company, we often embark on data sharing for academic research in several areas including consumer protection particularly in the field of responsible gaming.

This mutually benefitting cooperation with university faculties (both locally and abroad) sets the way for possible future employment of researchers with our company. Needless to mention that as a group that is actively engaged in cutting edge technology together with responsible gaming does in itself attract considerable interest from university students or graduates interested in starting a rewarding career.

What is your experience with non-EU workers? How hard is it to get a visa for them?

Our experience concerning non-EU workers hasn’t been the easiest. There is a

thorough process involved in order to justify why we have chosen candidates outside the EU. It can easily take up to 4-5 months until we manage to get a visa for non-EU citizens which proves very frustrating especially if the role in question is critical for the business. Also, being able to attract and employ skilled workers from all over the world is imperative for most businesses, but crucial for digital companies such as Unibet.

Betting Connections Kay Vella – head of recruitment Which skills are most sought after by gaming companies which are not available in Malta?

The biggest need for candidates from abroad, or indeed expats already in Malta, is language requirements. With an industry

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that spans across so many markets, there are a large amount of multilingual vacancies in Malta which require fluent levels of languages such as German, Swedish, Norwegian, French, Danish and many more.

In addition to this, with the industry being based largely online, there is an ever growing need for IT professionals with vast experience with a variety of web technologies.

While there is a large amount of IT candidates based locally, the pool of candidates with the newest technologies is small, so it is a very competitive market. However, this is also a fantastic opportunity for locally-based job seekers to join an industry at the cutting edge of technology and further develop their skills base and career within IT. There is a wealth of experience and variety of skills available on the island already and many roles based here are filled with locally based job seekers. With a fantastic talent pool available within Europe, candidates from outside of the EU are rarely needed, however, some positions have specific needs for non-EU candidates, such as language based skill sets – Turkish, Chinese as an example – although we always focus our efforts on locally based and EU nationals first.

Paddy Power Betfair Antoine Bonello – managing director – Malta How many staff do you have now and how many do you anticipate having in two years’ time?

Due to the effectiveness of Paddy Power Betfair’s operations in Malta, we are currently expanding rapidly. We are looking at increasing headcount from 150 (January 2016) to approximately 300 heads by end of 2016. We anticipate headcount to potentially hit 400 heads by 2018.

How many are Maltese? What could Malta/University do to increase that number?

Nearly two-thirds of our workforce is Maltese and not higher simply due to specific native language requirements for servicing certain markets. We have acknowledged that we will not find the trained resource we need and therefore invest significantly in training and upskilling internally.

Malta needs an educational system that produces logical thinkers, with a can do approach and the confidence to challenge; backed with the entrepreneurial spirit and

language that favours the recruitment of foreign nationals but in general cases, Maltese candidates stand equal chances to secure employment in this industry, in a labour market characterised by multinational candidates.

“Typically we struggle with positions that require specific languages”

From which countries do you get recruits?

EU and non-EU? The general low supply of candidates in highly sought-after positions is a market condition experienced almost Europe wide.

While the shift of candidates of different nationalities, seeking employment in Malta, is a constant, Konnekt has also successfully assisted candidates relocating from non-EU countries. Such countries vary from East European countries to South America and North Africa. Malta is most often regarded as a country with excellent living conditions and a strong economy for individuals coming from countries where either high unemployment or weak economies characterise their homeland.

iGaming Elite hunger to do better for oneself and for others. This would then make it so much easier for University to adapt to specific industry needs and for companies themselves to upskill staff where there are gaps in the market.

Tipico Manuela Abela – talent acquisition manager Which skills are most sought after by gaming companies which are not available in Malta?

These tend to vary depending on the roles we would be hiring for. However, most commonly, typically we struggle with positions that require specific languages, in our case mostly German, highly technical and very senior industry specific roles such as software developers, BI developers, international lawyers, executives and any position that requires German speaking.

At Tipico, a third of the current workforce in the Malta office are Maltese, around 70 employees. Currently we have 28 different nationalities in the local office, including German, English, Italian, French, Spanish, Swiss, Belgian, Hungarian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Serbian, Irish, Polish, Turkish, US, Portuguese and Russian.

Dean Nicholls – CEO

Konnekt Etienne Gatt – IT & iGaming recruitment manager.

Which skills are most sought after by gaming companies which are not available in Malta?

As one would assume, software development and infrastructure related jobs are always in high demand within the gaming industry. On the other hand, the highly populated nature of the industry escalates the importance of providing the best possible user experience with a view to leverage on usage and secure market share. In this context, skills related to design, such as, UX and UI are also very high in demand. While both skills are available in Malta, the overall challenge is the availability of talent to meet the large demand on the market.

Has the number of Maltese recruited for gaming companies increased over the past five years?

The number of roles for gaming companies has increased overall during the past years. The Maltese candidate is generally regarded as highly skilled and multi-talented. The general perception about our labour workforce is excellent. There are roles requiring the native use of a particular

Which skills are most sought after by gaming companies which are not available in Malta?

That’s a very interesting question. Mainly because there is a discrepancy between what individuals’ perceived skills are and the talent that is available on the market that would add value to our client base. iGaming Elite is not a high street agency; we are a boutique search and selection consultancy helping businesses grow talent internally, mainly through headhunting.

If I had to split the question into two segments, one being online gaming suppliers and the other operators, then the answer would be very different.

Firstly, suppliers really struggle to find product specialists, mathematicians, tech individuals to work and help improve their respective products. Individuals that are required to have a very specific technical skill set are difficult to find in Malta, not impossible, but difficult. Eastern European countries in particular have had a surge in producing very talented technical individuals, among other jurisdictions.

On the operator side, I think Malta is very well covered for general developers, marketers, designers and artists etc. However, there are a few languages with a real shortage, Norwegian, German to mention just a couple.

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INTERVIEW

Making a lot of noise Five weeks ago, Medserv announced that it had appointed Edison Investment Research to carry out analytical investment. Vanessa Macdonald spoke to Edison director CHARLES COMBE to ask why.

Why would a company pay to have research done? And what value would it have to investors if it is being paid for by the company itself?

You are right. Companies being asked to pay Edison to write a research report on them was a novel approach and some people – especially older chairmen – could not understand. The argument was that they got research done free of charge.

Traditionally, credit rating companies which deal with the debt side are paid for their reports. But research is usually written because clients would want to know about the companies. So Goldman Sachs would send research out to Fidelity, for example, with a ‘buy’ recommendation on a company, which would in turn pass it on. Goldman Sachs would get a commission and they would also have an eye on adviser fees, looking at future acquisitions and investor outreaches. But that model has been affected in a number of ways, particularly since commission levels have shrunk to a tenth of what they were.

In addition, Mifid II demands that fund managers should demonstrate that the research is adding value and unique information. You cannot just put a short pager out.

So you then end up covering fewer companies. I know of a FTSE 250 company which used to be covered by 26 analysts; they came in to see us two weeks ago as that has been whittled down to three.

Why do you need research? If there are no forecasts, it is very, very difficult for investors to understand a company. What is its growth trajectory? How much will it make next year? Is the share price appropriate in terms of how fast it is growing? What are its plans this year and next year?

What we do is write research on companies to get that message out there to international investors.

I was invited to come out here by stockbroker Edward Rizzo and we met a few companies. It was fascinating that none of them had any forecast numbers out in the market.

I also visited the Malta Stock Exchange, which is also looking at ways to generate liquidity and interest in Maltese stocks.

“We try to generate liquidity from new investors and broaden the shareholder base” Why would Maltese companies be of interest to international investors?

Companies should be looking for investors in the countries where they derive their revenue. If you look at FTSE100 companies, their investor base matches the footprint of their revenue.

Apart from Medserv, there are many companies, such as hotels and IT groups, which operate internationally, even though they are based in Malta.

What we try to do through our research and through our road shows is basically to generate liquidity from new investors and broaden the shareholder base by getting that message out there. And this has an impact on a company’s share price as a larger investor base makes it easier to reflect the company’s real fundamentals.

Why would this be of interest to existing Maltese shareholders? Would the impact be positive or negative?

If you add international investors to a shareholder base, it adds stability as they are looking at the long term. If you only have a small number of shares being traded, you have a very broad ‘bid-ask’ spread. The small companies on Alternative Investment Markets have this problem: one shareholder sells his or her shares and there is a five per cent reduction in the share price!

You also find that when you buy a stock with a very broad spread, the company has to perform 10 to 15 per cent better before you make a profit because the point where you can sell at a profit is so much higher.

What we would add by generating liquidity is to reduce the ‘bid-ask’, making it easier for Maltese shareholders to make a profit.

Surely the amount of shares available in Maltese companies would be too limited to be of interest to international investors?

We have a range of investors from large institutions like Fidelity, JP Morgan and Black Rock which pay us to write

research on their investment trusts, but our traditional audience has been private wealth managers.

This is not for every single company and we fully appreciate that.

The answer is that it would be harder but when you are talking about, for example, a business with assets in London or in the UAE, then investors take notice. Oil and gas assets are international – and oil and gas services companies operate anywhere in the world and can be listed anywhere in the world.

Maltese companies are small but look at GO: if you invested at 80c, you would now be looking at €2.87 per share. You have more than trebled your money. That is an argument you could make to any investor in the world. All people want is to generate the best return.

The problem is getting the story out there and with all the changes in regulations plus the reduction in commission levels, it is becoming harder and harder, especially for small cap companies, to generate that equity research coverage from banks and brokers.

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MSE chairman Joe Portelli suggested getting a group of analysts to Malta but the problem is that analysts are specialised; they do not cover a support services company one minute and a hotel company the next.

And you have to look at how the analysts would be paid… If Merrill Lynch were to write about a company, how could they justify the expense of an analyst writing a full initiation note?

How can you afford it?

We are not relying on commission. We do not generate revenues from commission or on a corporate broking fee. We are affordable because the company pays us, not the investors.

“We are not paid commission, so we are not writing a glorified ‘buy note’ because we want people to trade” If you are paid by the company, how independent can the research be, especially when your conclusions are negative?

We are independent of the conflicts of being a broker. We are not paid

commission, so we are not writing a glorified ‘buy note’ because we want people to trade. If you look at the Medserv one, the feedback we got was that it was ‘fair’.

We would never write about a company that could have an impact on our reputation. We would walk away.

There is also a natural sieve. A company that is going through a difficult time will not come to us. And, if they did, we would advise them that it would not be in their interest to go ahead at that particular time.

There are clients who believe that they are undervalued but we would not write something if we could not verify and justify it. Our analysts would not put their name to anything they could not stand by.

There is that conflict to manage and we believe we do it well. We have a team of 10 as our central desk, made up of former fund managers, and they go through every single note before it is published – with a red pen!

– to make sure it is rock solid.

Does your role have an element of forensic investigation or is it only based on the information that you are given?

It is a combination of published information but we do speak to the company and its executives and ask for management accounts. We put nothing in the market which is not already in the public domain. But we add our forecasts. The company has sight of the note before we publish to make sure that there are no factual inaccuracies but we are very strong on the fact that it is independent.

Do you benchmark companies against industry standards?

We do a discounted cash flow. But one of our main valuation methods is to look at comparables, comparing the average results, like price/earning ratio, of a company’s peers.

Since we have 85 analysts and write about so many companies, then we draw on the results’ presentations of many companies.

You cannot write about a company unless you understand what is going on in the market.

All our analysts have their own domains of expertise, with teams for each sector. The analysts speak to the companies regularly and get to know them. You maintain your distance and have a professional relationship but you have to have a rapport and know the company and market inside out.

Medserv was your first client here. Give me an idea of what will be happening with their research now…

In a typical year, we do a 12 to 16-page initiation style note. We update this every year as things do change. We keep them concise as we don’t want to bore investors!

The skill of the analyst is condensing the salient points. We typically write three updated notes on average, reflecting a company’s annual report, its interim report and trading statements (even though these are not mandatory).

In addition, if a company were to make an acquisition or any material changes, we would do research on that too.

The Medserv note went out to about 20,000 investors, in addition to which we

WHO IS EDISON? • The Edison Group was founded in 2003 by two small cap fund managers and a research analyst. They started off looking at UK-based, predominantly small cap companies with less than £1 billion, who were not attracting any research companies.

• Edison now is headquartered in London, with offices in the US, Frankfurt and Sydney, with a presence in Wellington/New Zealand and Tel Aviv/Israel.

• It currently has 85 analysts looking after 450 corporate clients. have relationships with 75 platforms, such as Bloomberg and Thomson Reuters, as well as to some of the retail ones, which host our research.

We work hard to keep our Google ranking high too so that the notes come up when people search for the company.

We also have a ‘research link’, an HTML code which would go on to Medserv’s website, with updates added automatically.

It is also on our website, of course, and regulatory announcements are made.

Brokers only send research to professional clients who pay them for that research. Our view is completely different as we want that message to go out to as many potential investors as possible.

That is how we generate success, by making as much noise about the company as possible.

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CASE STUDY

Adding the personal touch When Bronia Mercieca’s mobile phone went off on Christmas Day, her husband paused with his fork in mid-air. It was bound to be a tenant with a problem – and he was right. An Italian renting an apartment in Valletta was in the middle of cooking the family celebration lunch and had run out of gas.

There was a full cylinder there but he had never seen one before and was scared of trying to change it himself, even after Ms Mercieca sent an online explanation link.

“I didn’t even need to ask him.

My husband said we had to go and that is what we did. It only took a few minutes but it saved his family’s Christmas lunch,” she laughed.

Ms Mercieca is the manager of Frank Salt’s Property Management Division, a small team of four people and two handymen.

“We will soon add another handyman as it is better to have our own full-timer rather than outsourcing – since the amount of work justifies it,” she said.

And the amount of work certainly justifies it: at the moment the division manages 180 properties across the island, and although the majority are long-lets, there are enough short-lets to ensure that her phone never stops ringing.

The division started off over a decade ago when the real estate agency sold holiday homes to foreigners and offered to keep an

eye on a handful of them while the owners were overseas.

“We used to go once a month to check everything and issue a short report. And that was it!” she recalled.

“Many of the properties were at Portomaso, so it was very easy for us to pop over from our head office!

But when there were issues, it was so much easier for us to deal with them than for the owners to be contacted in their home country.”

Since then, the numbers have grown considerably and the service has matured into a full service property management company (one department in Malta and a similar one in Gozo) – with concierge services thrown in for good measure.

FRANK SALT’S PROPERTY MANAGEMENT DIVISION MANAGER BRONIA MERCIECA. PHOTO: CHRIS SANT FOURNIER

“e service has matured into a full service property management company, with concierge services thrown in for good measure” In the three-and-a-half years since she took over the division, her hands-on approach means she has personally intervened to fetch keys to let a tenant into their apartment after they locked themselves out in the middle of the night and even picked up a client’s Tallinja card.

“The reward is the ‘thank you’ – and yes, seeing your name mentioned in positive reviews on Trip Advisor or other social media is very satisfying!”

There are fundamental differences between the requirements of long-lets and short-lets, for both the owners and the tenants – which makes property management companies very sought after, particularly when an owner has more than one property.

“Short-lets are very demanding as you have to be at their disposal round the clock. The tenants very often arrive outside office hours.

We arrange for the keys to be given

to them in a sealed envelope by the taxi-drivers,” she explained.

“Short-lets obviously generate much more money but you also have to take into consideration the higher costs. They mean a lot more wear and tear, besides factoring in laundry, cleaning and utility bills. The majority of people staying for a few days do not look after the property the way they would if they were there for longer. Long-lets tend to settle in and get used to the property.

They don’t call us every other day,” she said, explaining – with a sigh of relief – that around 90 per cent of the properties they manage are long-lets.

One advantage of a short-let is that it is prepaid whereas longlet rentals are usually paid monthly or quarterly. Thankfully, it is not so common that tenants are late with payments and it is even rarer that they fall

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so far into arrears that they have to be evicted.

Apart from the obvious tasks like touching up the property before a new lease and checking the property at the end so that the deposit can be released, the division also keeps an eye on the utility bills, to ensure that what is being deducted on a monthly basis is enough to keep up. They also volunteer to change the locks at the end of a tenancy, which gives the owners additional peace of mind.

“These are all simple things which are aimed at preventing problems,” she said.

Property management companies have a dual role as they are engaged by the owner but are there to keep tenant happy.

“We often act as an intermediary between the owner and the tenant – which is especially useful when it is something not so pleasant, like a problem in the apartment or a revision of the rental fee,” she said.

Another important role is establishing the rent that an owner should ask, which is where it helps to be part of a real estate agency.

Frank Salt Real Estate monitors the market regularly, which helps to ensure that the rent is set at the right level: for example, rentals in St Julian’s went up by €100 to €150 a month over the last year.

PAULA NANAPERE, CHARLES CUTAJAR, BRONIAMERCIECA, NICOLA WINTER.

“We often act as an intermediary between the owner and the tenant, which is especially useful when it is something not so pleasant, like a problem in the apartment or a revision of the rental fee”

“We and the letting agents enjoy the trust of the owners, so we help them to keep a balance.

They have to keep their feet on the ground or risk having their apartment and investment empty for a few months.

“On the other hand, some owners find it hard to know how much to charge if their property comes back on to the market after a long time, for example. It is so useful to be able to refer to a Frank Salt branch in that area who would have a very clear idea of the trends there.

“We are also in a very good position to advise owners on how to make the property easier to rent and how to attract higher rental, whether through paint, new furniture or decoration. Preferences have changed and foreign tenants rarely want the traditional Maltese style of furniture but want something much more minimalist and simple.”

The only problem at the moment is that demand is so high, with clients ready and waiting, even before the apartment is available.

“On the list last week we only had five properties available to rent out…” she lamented. Thank heavens there are some new blocks coming on stream at Pender Gardens…”

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e Business Observer is Malta’s leading business newspaper distributed with Times of Malta every fortnight.

Editorial Vanessa Macdonald, Assistant editor, Times of Malta.

EDITORIAL

Filling the post-Brexit vacuum Just three weeks after Brexit, there are already two clear forces taking shape: countries vying with each other to scavenge on the fall-out; and British attempts to put on a brave face and show the world that it really did have post-Brexit plans, irrespective of the ‘rats’ that abandoned ship.

The EU is under pressure to show that the waters outside the union are stormy and shark-infested, worried that other member states might cast themselves adrift. It could, of course, have chosen to do this by tackling the root causes of the unease that is pervading so many other voters in so many other countries. Instead, it is trying to present a united front, despite the fault lines that have been all too apparent for years.

Individual member states are licking their lips in anticipation of the exodus from Britain – or rather, from England and Wales, it would seem – of investment and brains. Paris has already outlined its fiscal incentives to lure financial service providers and Frankfurt is wining and dining all those banks and funds operating in euros that might be nudged into having their headquarters within the eurozone.

Malta is not holding back either. Prime Minister Joseph Muscat told Parliament recently that Malta was already having talks on attracting some UK-based business and was tackling problems which could hinder such business relocation, including issues such as the availability of independent schooling. Lucky for us that the shortage of offices might be so overwhelmingly sorted by a high-rise or 10!

In the meantime, the UK is doing some grandstanding of its own.

It had trade talks last week in India, likely to be followed in the

coming months by discussions with the United States, China, Japan and South Korea.

Clearly, what is left of the Leave campaign now has to show that the UK would be more nimble outside the EU – which has been unable to forge a deal with India, for example.

The subliminal message from the EU has been somewhat confusing on this. It has been trying to warn the UK that trade deals are not that easy and sniffing at the Leave campaign’s insistence that it would come running to the table given the substantial level of trade flows.

At the same time, perhaps under pressure to show that the Trans Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the EU and the US is not going to lead to an apocalypse, it announced last week that it had signed a suspiciously similar agreement with Canada, which raised some concerns from civil society – but nothing on the scale of those against TTIP. Clearly, the antagonism about trade deals is as much about the perception of the trading partner’s ability to bulldoze their way through as it is about the actual mechanisms.

Before the referendum, the scenarios were drawn in superficial, bold strokes, without any contamination by the laws of equal and opposition reaction, without any distinction between short-term chaos and what would emerge once the dust settled.

It is tempting to dissect what went wrong with the Remain campaign and to grouse about what has been wrong with the EU. The reality is that life plods along, finding other roads and making the best of the bad situation (albeit after considerable pain). Ironic really, as this is, after all, the British way.

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BUSINESS OPINION

Malta Stock Exchange: going international

Joseph Portelli The Malta Stock Exchange (MSE) is this year celebrating its 25th anniversary. The MSE has come a long way since Bank of Valletta first listed it back in 1992 and today has over 40 companies listing both bonds and equities. This number is poised to grow further, particularly since Prospects, a market fully owned by the MSE that caters to the financing needs of small- and medium-sized companies (SMEs), is now available.

However, although Malta’s fastpaced economic growth has become the envy of Europe, the reality is that Malta’s economy is still Europe’s smallest, which suggests the Exchange’s prospects for growth domestically are limited.

Although the MSE is committed to servicing the local economy and to increasing listings locally, for the Exchange to grow and prosper we must look beyond our shores.

Two other relatively small economies have Exchanges which have gone international and have done it with major success. Both Luxembourg and Ireland have Stock Exchanges which have become

“Although Malta’s fast-paced economic growth has become the envy of Europe, the reality is that Malta’s economy is still Europe’s smallest, which suggests the Exchange’s prospects for growth domestically are limited” international powerhouses having 40,000 and 32,000 listings respectively, almost all of which are international listings. This has helped propel both countries into major financial centres, spawning ancillary financial sectors such as funds, insurance, legal, accounting and other back office industries, creating thousands of well-paying jobs in the process.

For the first time in our 25-year history, the Exchange will be embarking on a sustained strategy to market and promote its listing

and Central Securities Depository (CSD) services outside Malta. We offer excellent cost-effective services such as a fully-functional CSD, and utilise the Deutsche Boerse Xetra platform, a state-ofthe-art trading system.

We have identified key markets such as Italy, Spain, Turkey, Portugal, North Africa, the Middle East and China as areas which may offer us a competitive advantage such as cost competiveness or the ability to passport into the EU cheaply.

Exchange trading volumes and liquidity can be significantly enhanced by showcasing some of our larger listed companies to global institutional fund managers. Medserv, one of the MSE’s best performers, has commissioned Edison, a London-based research firm (see story on pages 10 and 11) to conduct an independent investment research study on the company’s prospects. Few institutional managers would show any initial investing interest without at least reading such a research report.

There are already a number of other Maltese companies which have discussed engaging Edison to write similar research reports.

Furthermore, the MSE and Edison have agreed to explore avenues for promoting Maltese-listed companies to institutional investors both in Europe and the US. There is the potential for roadshows and institutional investor conferences showcasing some of Malta’s finest listed companies.

We are also formulating a strategy to attract foreign brokers to become members of the MSE. Of the 13 member firms authorised to broker trades on the Exchange, only one is foreign. There are a number of very large international trading platforms offering access to millions of account holders we would be very interested in attracting. Imagine an investor based in New York, or New Delhi, just a few key strokes away from buying 5,000 shares of Bank of Valletta or GO shares.

The MSE has indeed come a long way over its 25-year existence.

There are many past and present clerks, supervisors, managers, GMs, CEOs, directors and chairmen who deserve recognition and praise for having taken our national exchange a very long way. However, today we believe serious growth potential over the next quarter century will come from the many significant and exciting opportunities overseas.

This is a journey our country and the Malta Stock Exchange are well suited to take.

Joseph Portelli is the chairman of the Malta Stock Exchange.

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APPOINTMENTS

CEO for Mrieħel Enterprise Zone Foundation The Mrieħel Enterprise Zone Foundation, a public private initiative, has appointed Keith Fenech as chief executive officer from August 1.

The appointment was made following a public call, and forms part of an agreement signed earlier this year between the government of Malta and 18 companies operating from Mrieħel. The chief executive officer will be employed with Projects Malta Ltd and seconded to the foundation.

Mr Fenech will be responsible to the board of administrators whose long-term objective is to draw up a vision for Mrieħel that embraces both private and public investment in a common goal of economic and urban growth. He will also manage Mrieħel on a day-to-day basis, addressing current and practical challenges.

Mr Fenech has over 20 years of experience in the industry, having worked his way up to senior managerial posts within a major international manufacturing firm based in Malta.

COO for Maltapost Maltapost has promoted Adrian Vassallo to chief operating officer, just seven months since he was made head of business process design. Prior to joining Maltapost, Mr Vassallo spent around 20 years working with ST Microelectronics.

New partners and director at PwC Malta Bonavent Gauci, Steve Gingell and Steve Mamo have been appointed partners at PwC in Malta, while Nicolette Hills has been appointed as director.

Mr Gauci (left) joined the firm in 2000 and, after four years in the assurance service line, moved to the advisory practice in 2005. He specialises in corporate finance, strategic business advisory, valuations, feasibility studies, mergers and business recovery.

Mr Gingell (centre) joined the firm in 2003, starting in tax service, spending two years at PwC London.

He advises local and international clients in various industries.

Pizzuto appointed MCCAA chair Helga Pizzuto has been appointed as the new chair of the Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority.

Ing. Pizzuto is a warranted electrical engineer by profession.

Throughout her career, she has held a number of senior executive positions both within local industry and the public sector.

Over the years she has provided independent consultancy services in both technical sectors and management fields.

Ing. Pizzuto also brings with her extensive experience in the regulatory field. She has held the position of chief of technology and spectrum management at the Malta Communications Authority, and was recently the chief officer for business and programme development at the Malta Gaming Authority.

Mr Mamo (right) joined the firm’s assurance service line in 2004, and developed his audit experience through secondments to PwC Canada and PwC Channel Islands.

He presently services a portfolio of high profile and listed clients in a number of industries.

Ms Hills joined the firm in 1993 as part of the assurance line of service, and during her time with the firm, she has been involved in both local and foreign audits and has been sent on a number of overseas secondments.

Her focus is now the oversight of the firm’s quality and risk management and independence function.

SR Technics chooses CFO Sven Kussmann has taken over as the chief financial officer of SR Technics from Christina Johansson, reporting directly to the CEO. Mr Kussmann is an experienced corporate finance professional who joins SR Technics from Mubadala Development Company, where he was as part of its corporate finance team. Prior to this, he worked for companies such as Allianz Capital Partners and PwC.

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STOCK MARKET REVIEW

A review of the local hotel industry from the perspective of bond issuers

Edward Rizzo The revised Listing Policies dated March 5, 2013, stipulate that companies which approach the local capital market with a bond offering need to publish a financial analysis summary (FAS) together with the prospectus. Following the issuance of their publicly listed debt instruments, the FAS has to be updated each year within two months from the publication of their annual financial results. Since the majority of companies have a December year end, the cut-off date for the publication of the majority of FASs is the end of June – that is two months following the maximum period of four months allowed for the issuance of the annual financial results.

There are only three instances where companies are exempt from publishing an FAS. These are: (i) where the issuer is subject to capital requirements as laid down in the EU Capital Requirements Directive or the EU Solvency II Directive (namely banks and insurance companies); (ii) where the bond issue has a recognised credit rating that is regulated in terms of the EU Regulation on Credit Rating Agencies; and (iii) where the minimum subscription amount and subsequent minimum holding of the bonds is €50,000.

The objective of an FAS is that of assisting a retail investor to obtain a better understanding of the financial strength and credit worthiness of an issuer and, in the case

where the bond is guaranteed by another entity, of the guarantor of the bonds.

When bonds are guaranteed, it is very important for investors to gauge the strength of the guarantor other than the issuer which is generally a finance vehicle that onlends funds to the guarantor.

The publication of an FAS on an annual basis is not only important from the investor’s perspective but also from an issuer perspective. In our article published on May 26, we made reference to the importance of good investor relations as this enables market participants to make better informed judgements when investing, thus enhancing trading activity and liquidity in the market. Additionally, a satisfactory level of liquidity in a particular financial instrument (whether bond or equity) is also beneficial to the issuing company itself as this encourages potential investors to as-

“When bonds are guaranteed, it is very important for investors to gauge the strength of the guarantor other than the issuer which is generally a finance vehicle that on-lends funds to the guarantor” sess such an instrument more favourably when it comes to choosing between a number of similar investments.

With reference to the number of FASs published recently, three of these bond issuers are mainly dependent on the fortunes of the local tourism industry. These are: AX Investments plc (with the guarantor of its bonds being AX Hold-

ings Limited), Island Hotels Group Holdings plc (IHG) and Tumas Investments plc (which is the finance company of Spinola Development Company Limited [SDC] – the guarantor of its bonds). Apart from these three issuers, two other tourism-oriented companies which have their debt listed on the Malta Stock Exchange and which also publish an FAS on an annual

basis are International Hotel Investments plc and Corinthia Finance plc. The latter is the finance arm of Corinthia Palace Hotel Company Limited, which is also the parent company of IHI – both are owners and operators of various hotels and other real-estate assets spread across a number of jurisdictions apart from Malta.

Another company which is largely dependant on the local tourism industry is Eden Leisure Group Limited which acts as the guarantor of the bonds issued

by Eden Finance plc. However, in this case, the issuer is not required to publish an FAS on a yearly basis as its bonds were offered to the public prior to the introduction of the revised listing policies in March 2013. Given the current buoyant conditions across the local tourism industry, it would be interesting to analyse whether this is also being reflected in improving profitability

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STOCK MARKET REVIEW

levels across the companies which mainly operate in this particular segment of the local economy.

At first glance, it seems that the AX Group, Island Hotels Group, Tumas and Eden Leisure Group benefited greatly from the prevailing favourable local tourism environment in 2015. Indeed, they all reported higher levels of revenues and double-digit growth in their respective pre-tax profits.

In this respect, IHG posted the highest growth in profitability in 2015 as its pre-tax profits surged by 85 per cent when compared to the previous year. However, this was due to the fact that the 2015 financial statements of the IHG Group were for a 14-month period as a result of the decision to change the financial year-end from October to December following the takeover

by International Hotel Investments plc. More importantly, the results of Island Hotels Group were boosted by a one-time recognition of investment income amounting to €5 million related to the entire acquisition of Buttigieg Holdings Limited (the owner of the Costa Coffee franchise in Malta and in the East Coast territory of Spain, the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands) and The Heavenly Collection Limited (the owner of the parcel of land situated near the Golden Sands Radisson Blu Resort & Spa).

When comparing the EBITDA line item, the strongest increase was registered by the AX Group with a rise of 36 per cent. SDC and Eden Leisure Group also reported improved EBITDA, albeit by a more modest six per cent and four per cent respectively. Meanwhile, the EBITDA figure of Island Hotels Group declined by eight per cent as the increase in other operating costs outweighed the gains registered in gross profit. Revenues generated by IHG during 2015 surged by 54 per cent namely as a result of the effect of the 14-month reporting period as well as the consolidation, for the first time, of the results of Buttigieg Holdings Limited as from June 10, 2015.

On the other hand, revenues generated by IHG in 2015 were negatively impacted by the temporary closure of the Radisson Blu Resort St Julian’s between November 2014 and March 2015 due to a refurbishment undertaken at the hotel.

SOURCE: NATIONAL STATISTICS OFFICE

Another noteworthy point to mention is the fact that, excluding the effects from any revaluation of investment property recognised through the income statement, both AX Group and SDC managed to post their best pre-tax profits ever in 2015. Furthermore, the actual results of SDC exceeded its projections by 64 per cengt on a pre-tax basis due to the much better-than-expected performance of the Hilton Malta hotel in 2015.

Apart from the above, there seems to have been a general upward trend in revenue per available room (RevPAR) in 2015, largely due to an uplift in hotel room rates and in some cases coupled with an increase in occupancy. Since an FAS also provides current year projections (in this case 2016), apart from a review of the historic financial performance, it would be equally important to examine the outlook for local hotel operators. In this case, since no FAS is required to be published by Eden Leisure Group, the 2016 projections are not available for this particular bond issuer.

The recent FASs published by AX Investments plc, IHG and Tumas Investments plc show that all three companies are expected to report a decline in pre-tax profitability during 2016 for various reasons. In the case of AX Group, whilst EBITDA is expected to climb by a further 11 per

cent following the 36 per cent surge in 2015, pre-tax profits are anticipated to decline by 35 per cent as the Group is forecasting a higher level of depreciation (+11 per cent) and net finance costs (+ eight per cent) following its most recent investments – the refurbishments to the Victoria Hotel and the Seashells Resort at Suncrest, as well as the completion of the Hilltop Gardens Care Home and Residences. Additionally, the 2015 financial results of AX Group were boosted by a onetime investment income of €2 million resulting from the sale of investments which is not expected be repeated in 2016.

Similarly, while IHG’s EBITDA is expected to nearly double in 2016 to €4.6 million, pre-tax profitability is expected to suffer when compared to the financial year ended 2015 mainly as a result of the onetime investment income recognised in 2015 which will not be repeated in 2016.

In contrast, SDC is expecting to generate a lower level of EBITDA in 2016 as a result of the ten-week period in the early part of the year when the Hilton Malta hotel was completely shut down in order to undergo an extensive refurbishment. As a result, pre-tax profits are expected to drop by 37 per cent to €4.9 million. Despite this setback, the interest cover and the gearing

ratio of SDC (the two most widelyused financial indicators for fixed income securities) are set to remain strong in 2016. In fact, SDC’s interest cover for 2016 is projected at 3.9 times from 4.6 times in 2015.

Furthermore, the gearing ratio, calculated as the net debt divided by net debt plus equity (in this case also taking into consideration the fair value adjusted equity), is expected to increase to 39 setback from 32 setback in 2015 following the additional debt taken by the company for the refurbishment of the Hilton Malta hotel.

Likewise, the projected interest cover and gearing ratio of AX Group are also considered to be healthy.

The interest cover in 2016 is projected to remain unchanged at 2.9 times while its gearing level should read marginally below the 40 setback level. In contrast, IHG is projecting that its interest cover will be 1.3 times in 2016 compared to 0.6 times in 2015 although this excludes the contribution from the 50 setback stake in the Radisson Golden Sands. Furthermore, the company’s gearing ratio is projected at 52 setback in 2016 which effectively means that the level of net debt (total debt less cash and cash equivalents) of the company represents just over half of its funding sources.

In the wake of the result of the UK’s consultative referendum on

Rizzo, Farrugia & Co. (Stockbrokers) Ltd (RFC) is a member of the Malta Stock Exchange and licensed by the Malta Financial Services Authority. This report has been prepared in accordance with legal requirements. It has not been disclosed to the company/s herein mentioned before its publication. It is based on public information only and is published solely for informational purposes and is not to be construed as a solicitation or an offer to buy or sell any securities or related financial instruments. The author and other relevant persons may not trade in the securities to which this report relates (other than executing unsolicited client orders) until such time as the recipients of this report have had a reasonable opportunity to act thereon.

RFC, its directors, the author of this report, other employees or RFC on behalf of its clients, have holdings in the securities herein mentioned and may at any time make purchases and/or sales in them as principal or agent, and may also have other business relationships with the company/s. Stock markets are volatile and subject to fluctuations which cannot be reasonably foreseen.

Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Neither RFC, nor any of its directors or employees accept any liability for any loss or damage arising out of the use of all or any part thereof and no representation or warranty is provided in respect of the reliability of the information contained in this report. © 2016 Rizzo, Farrugia & Co. (Stockbrokers) Ltd. All rights reserved

EU membership held on June 23, it is a well known fact that the success of the tourism sector and its multiplier effect on Malta’s broader economy is largely dependant on the UK market since circa 30 per cent of total inbound tourists, nights spent and tourist expenditure in 2015 came directly from the UK. Against this backdrop, it would be of particular interest to see whether the forecasts provided by these companies will actually be met during 2016.

More importantly, these companies ought to keep the local capital market abreast of the possible impact from the decline in the value of the pound sterling on the sector in the months and years ahead in order to assist the local investing community when contemplating investment options.

Edward Rizzo is a director at Rizzo, Farrugia & Co. (Stockbrokers) Ltd.

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BUSINESS UPDATES

Ganado Advocates announces four partnership promotions Ganado Advocates, one of Malta’s foremost law firms, has announced four partnership promotions, effective as of July 1.

The newly-appointed partners – Nikolai Muscat Farrugia, Matthew Brincat, Paul Micallef Grimaud and Christine Cassar Naudi – are established professionals within the firm’s practice areas.

Since joining the firm, they have brought specialisation and a wealth of expertise within their respective area of practice, which qualities have helped further develop such key areas within the firm.

Muscat Farrugia regularly assists clients in corporate matters, with particular focus on the formation and support of companies and corporate restructuring, as well as M&A transactions. Brincat’s areas of practice are employment and pensions, and he is a well-known figure both locally and internationally in both areas

(FROM LEFT) NIKOLAI MUSCAT FARRUGIA, LOUIS CASSAR PULLICINO, CHRISTINE CASSAR NAUDI, MATTHEW BRINCAT AND PAUL MICALLEF GRIMAUD.

of law, which he has been spearheading within the firm.

Micallef Grimaud leads the firm’s intellectual property, telecoms, media and technology practice and

is also notably active in commercial disputes of an international and national dimension. Cassar Naudi, now tax partner, works within the firm’s corporate finance and tax

practice, providing advice to the firm’s clients on various tax matters, and was responsible for the creation and development of the firm’s tax practice in the yachting sphere.

Such appointments, which have now increased the count of partners within the firm to 18, come at a time when the firm is registering consistent growth in its legal resource base.

Louis Cassar Pullicino, Ganado Advocates’ managing partner, said: “I am delighted to welcome all of our new partners. These appointments reflect our confidence in the future growth of our firm and the clients we serve. It is thanks to initiatives pursued by professionals like Nikolai, Matthew, Paul and Christine that the firm has grown steadily over such a little span of time.

“The new partners are seasoned professionals in their respective field who have demonstrated great ability and enthusiasm not only in growing the firm’s business within their area of practice, but also in helping the firm venture and establish itself in new areas which were still unexplored.”

Malta-based private air charter company AirX wins contract to transport the Olympic torch Malta-based private air charter company AirX was entrusted by the International Olympic Committee to transport the Olympic torch on the first leg of its worldrenowned journey that will culminate at the opening ceremony of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

The Olympic torch is following a threeand-a-half-month journey from the birthplace of the Olympic Games – Olympia – travelling through several cities and islands in Greece, through Switzerland before reaching its final destination in the 2016 host country, Brazil.

Following an evocative lighting ceremony in Athens on April 21 in Olympia, the torch embarked on a seven-day relay across Greece. The torchbearer in Athens was Ibrahim Al-Hussein, a Syrian refugee who lost part of his right leg in a bomb attack in 2012. He carried the torch on behalf of all refugees through the Eleonas refugee and migrant camp.

AirX was contracted to transport the Olympic torch from Athens to Geneva – the first international point of call, home to the seat of the International Olympic Committee and the Olympic Museum in Lausanne where the torch was on display prior to its journey.

John B. Matthews, chairman of AirX, said: “Of all the trips we make and the destinations we take people, it has been such a pleasure to be part of a voyage where the journey itself has meant so much. It gives me great pride to be part of these momentous games and we at AirX are honoured to have been chosen.”

The Olympic flame now joins a very long list of VIPs and famous passengers who choose AirX for their private air charter requirements. This particularly fiery client was housed in a ‘Davy Lamp’, nestled securely on a high comfort seat and accompanied by an entourage trained in the use of

THE AIRX CREW STANDING IN FRONT OF THE AIRX AIRCRAFT WITH MALTESE REGISTRATION 9H-BOO FLYING THE OLYMPIC TORCH FROM ATHENS TO GENEVA.

fire extinguishers which fortunately were not required at any stage.

Operating out of its head office at the Cottonera Waterfront in Malta, AirX is now recognised among the best air charter companies in the world. Earlier this year, the influential online magazine Billionaire.com listed AirX among the top 10 private air charter companies out of 831 operators worldwide. Noted as a newcomer on the scene, the article highlighted AirX’s “excellent service and high safety standards” adding that “it is no wonder AirX is fast becoming a favourite of the jet set”.

AirX provides private charter flights across Europe to clients who normally include A-list celebrities, such as Hollywood

movie stars, pop artists, royal families, top corporate executives, sport teams and government ministers. The company obtained its Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC) from the Civil Aviation Directorate and Transport Malta in May 2013.

AirX is currently expanding its fleet and workforce as part of a strategic growth plan to become the leading private air charter operator in Europe and beyond.

Employing 160 personnel, including 25 Maltese staff, AirX operates 13 aircraft: three Boeing 737 aircraft, three Legacy 600, five Challenger 850, and two Cessna Citation X. Seventy-seven per cent of the Company’s fleet is registered on the Maltese aviation register. www.airx.aero

THE OLYMPIC FLAME BURNING WITHIN A SPECIAL AIR TRANSPORT SAFETY CONTAINER ON BOARD AIRX AIRCRAFT.

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BUSINESS UPDATES

HSBC Malta adds value to Yes 4 Students HSBC Malta has launched a new Yes 4 Students campaign asking “What can you do?”

Students setting up a new account with Yes 4 Students between July 1 and October 31 will receive a credit of €50 from HSBC Malta. The campaign invites all students to consider what they can achieve in their future.

“Post-secondary schooling develops lifelong friendships, exposure to new experiences and the development of values that will shape their lives, including how best to manage their finances through this period. HSBC Yes 4 Students campaign allows exactly that,” said Dan Robinson, HSBC’s head of retail banking and wealth management.

All full-time students in Malta can visit the bank’s Facebook page facebook.com/HSBCMalta for more information on Yes 4 Students and other competitions with great prizes.

The Yes 4 Students package includes a free Yes 4 international debit card, free internet banking and free mobile services. One can also log on to www.hsbc.com.mt/yes4, call HSBC on 2380 2380 or visit any HSBC branch in Malta or Gozo.

THE YES 4 STUDENTS CAMPAIGN IS INVITING STUDENTS TO THINK ABOUT ‘WHAT CAN YOU DO?’.

Your world-class business connectivity partner in Malta Downtime is expensive but peace of mind is priceless. Melita has got you covered in all the critical stages of running your business.

From local fibre connectivity, to data hosting and international links, Melita leverages its robust network infrastructure and international fibre connections to keep your business running 24/7.

Melita Business offers end-toend fibre optic connectivity solutions across the country, for businesses dependent on timesensitive or mission-critical data transfer and hosting.

Melita Business Data Centre is a purpose-built, state-of-the-art data hosting facility built to Tier III specifications as a carrier-neutral data centre. It occupies the largest data centre footprint available in Malta and has recently reported a 100 per cent growth in client data racks compared to the previous year.

Dedicated, high-capacity pointto-point international circuits, delivered through a variety of options further extend Melita’s strong offering to any remote location in the world. Melita has a

Malta’s first Prohibition-style bar to open on July 22

direct point-of-presence in Milan where it peers with the world’s largest Tier I providers (Level 3 and Telia) to offer enterprisegrade symmetric internet connectivity with low latency and at

super-fast speeds. To learn more about Melita Business, customers are invited to send an e-mail to corporate. sales@melitaltd.com or visit www.melitabusiness.com /data-centre.

After its successful sneak-peak event a few days ago, Malta’s first prohibition-style bar, The Thirsty Barber, is set to open its doors on Friday, July 22. Located in Ball Street, St Julian’s, the bar offers visitors a unique experience that one will not find anywhere else in Malta.

If you are a fan of The Godfather, then you will be familiar with what this bar has to offer. With its authentic interiors created by leading local designers, you will feel like you have been transported into 1920s America. The attention to detail creates a great atmosphere, perfectly complementing the barmen’s enthusiasm and friendliness.

On top of the bespoke décor, a particularly unique cocktail list has been developed over the last three months by three highly-skilled and experienced mixologists.

The list contains a variety of interesting drinks including martinis, prohibition cocktails, champagne cocktails – some of which are also to share – as well as the signature cocktail, exclusively available at The Thirsty Barber. It is no surprise this bar has already received rave reviews before its official opening.

Visit www.thethirstybarber.com to find out more.

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BUSINESS UPDATES

Mellieħa Nights 2016

e largest iGaming job board in Europe GamblingCareers.com is run by experienced online gaming professionals with a vast amount of experience within international headhunting and talent acquisition, who recognise the need for change and innovation within the ever-changing online gaming space. GamblingCareers.com is now the largest iGaming job board in Europe, servicing multiple locations.

More and more businesses are bringing their talent acquisition process in-house, thus using various tools and skills to acquire talent in the aggressive and

competitive market for the war on individuals that can add real value to their business.

The company strongly believes it has produced a platform for businesses to flourish in this sector, with its system that not only brings the industry together, but gives one the tools to make recruitment drives a success.

The website is designed purely for businesses to advertise directly.

For more information, visit www.gamblingcareers.com.

e ninth edition of Mellieħa Nights, organised by the Mellieħa local council, will take place between July 29 and 31. is activity has become a highly sought-after event, which attracts thousands of locals and tourists to Mellieħa, to enjoy the best elements of the local community.

On Friday, July 29, a spectacular free concert by e Beaters, a Beatles tribute band, will take place in the Mellieħa parish square, while on Saturday, July 30, and Sunday, July 31, the main roads and squares in the locality will be closed to traffic, so visitors can stroll tranquilly around the main venues of the festival. A varied programme of events is being organised, varying from arts, music, culture, children’s animations, sports and food.

For all the motorsport fans, this year’s event will feature static car and motorcycle displays, drifting races and also an offroading show. e 2,000-year-old Sanctuary of Our Lady of Mellieħa and the World War II Shelters will be open to the public. is event is supported by the Malta Tourism Authority and the Parliamentary Secretariat for Local Government together with a number of corporate sponsors.