Grand Harbour Marina plc - Full-Year Results
On 28 April, Grand Harbour Marina plc published its financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2013.
Performance Overview
Grand Harbour Marina
The marina in Malta registered a 12% increase in revenue from berthing and other ancillary services to €2.82 million reflecting the fact that the marina continues to be fully occupied coupled with increases in the number of visiting super yachts to 152 (2012: 135) as well as higher rental fees and more utility sales. However, the overall revenue figure still dropped by almost 47% to €3.1 million largely reflecting the lack of berth sales during the year under review compared to the €3.1 million berth sales reported in 2012. Furthermore, although the Company maintained tight control on costs, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) also dropped by 35.7% to €0.94 million again due to the lack of berth sales.
After accounting for depreciation and amortisation of €0.32 million and net interest costs of €0.7 million, the marina in Malta registered a marginal pre-tax loss of €0.08 million. The 2013 performance of the Grand Harbour Marina is a step closer to the target of the Company of achieving a profit without any berth sales.
IC Cesme Marina
During its third year of operation, the marina in Turkey continued to register increased berthing and landside revenues leading to a 6% increase in total revenue to €4.4 million. The Chairman’s statement in the 2013 Annual Report further explains that the marina has reached over 95% occupancy in terms of berth numbers and nearly 70% in terms of berthing area. The aim is to increase the average size of the boats in the marina to close the gap between these two occupancy measures and further enhance revenue. Plans also include the addition of ten new berths, the expansion of the boatyard operation and the enhancing of support services.
On the land side, the Chairman explains that all retail properties remained fully occupied with fixed and revenue based income, car parking fees and common area fees all increasing from the previous year whilst utility revenues were maintained. A new gym facility is expected to be introduced to enhance the current retail offering.
Cost of sales remained relatively unchanged whilst overheads increased marginally. This resulted in an 18.9% increase in EBITDA to €1.51 million. The financial performance of the marina in Turkey was also boosted by a reduction in finance costs.
The Chairman also highlighted the impact of the weakening Turkish currency which could lead to loss of customers if tariffs are increased especially for yachtsmen charged in euros. Therefore, revenue growth needs to be driven by improved water utilisation, increased visitor revenues and higher utility revenues coupled with tight cost controls.
Grand Harbour Marina plc owns a 45% shareholding in IC Cesme and as such its share of profit for 2013 amounted to €38,867 compared to the share of loss of €127,821 incurred in 2012.
Consolidated
Overall, the Group reported a pre-tax loss of €45,131 compared to the pre-tax profit of €1.4 million in 2012 although this included approximately €2 million profits from the aforementioned berth sales in Malta. After accounting for a tax charge of €44,857 (2012: tax credit of €112,383), GHM reported a net loss of €89.988 in contrast to the net profit of €1.5 million in 2012 which was boosted by the berth sales.
No material changes were reported in the Statement of Financial Position.
Dividends
In February 2013, the Directors declared an interim net dividend of €0.12 per share which was subsequently paid on 15 March 2013.
On 13 March, Board of Directors declared an interim gross dividend (with respect to the 2014 financial year) of €0.095 per share (net: €0.084) to all shareholders as at the close of trading on 17 March 2014. The dividend was subsequently paid on 15 April 2014.
Outlook
Looking ahead, the Chairman noted that despite the continuing uncertain economic environment in the eurozone, there are small signs of recovery in the UK and the US coupled with a slow return of consumer confidence in the yachting sector which will serve as an incentive to make further gains in operating efficiency at both GHM and IC Cesme. The Group also continues to pursue new opportunities to maximise the use of the space available at both marinas while maintaining a high quality of service to our customers.