Grand Harbour Marina plc - Interim Results

On 3 September, Grand Harbour Marina plc published its Half-Year Results as at 30 June 2007.

The Company’s turnover during the first six months of the year amounted to only Lm203,018 compared to Lm1.33 million in the first half of 2006. This significant drop is solely due to the lack of sales of super-yacht berths during the period under review. On the other hand, in the first half of 2006, Grand Harbour Marina had sold a berth of 100 metres for a 25-year period for Lm1.16 million. Otherwise, pontoon fees and revenues from other ancillary services grew by 20.2% to Lm203,018. During the February 2007 Initial Public Offering, the Directors had projected revenue from sales of 2 super-yacht berths totalling Lm1.8 million. In the Half-Yearly Report, the Directors of Grand Harbour Marina remain optimistic of achieving their projections given the strong level of enquiries from super-yacht owners.

Personnel expenses dropped by 22.9% in the first half of the year to Lm50,950 with other expenses amounting to Lm225,052 compared to Lm480,681, which included direct costs from the revenues of long-term berth sales. While in the first half of 2006, the Company generated earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of Lm785,529, a loss of Lm72,984 was incurred during the period under review. The charge for deprecation was marginally higher at Lm51,231 resulting in an operating loss of Lm124,215.

With net finance costs increasing to Lm84,327 following a rise in interest rates, the Company’s pre-tax loss in the first half of the year amounted to Lm208,542 compared to a profit of Lm659,302 in the comparative period last year. After accounting for a tax credit of Lm72,990, the loss for the first half of the year narrowed to Lm135,552.

Total assets of Grand Harbour Marina increased marginally since the start of the year to Lm4.75 million while shareholders’ funds decreased to Lm1.18 million resulting in a net asset value per share of 11c8. The company’s total debt increased by Lm238,283 since 31 December 2006 to Lm2.78 million as at 30 June 2007.

Following the announcement on 25 April 2007 of the conditional agreement entered into between Camper & Nicholsons Marina Investments Limited (the closed-ended fund listed on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange) and the large shareholders of Grand Harbour Marina (Porto Salvo Holdings Limited, V&F Portelli Limited, Nicholas Maris and Simon Arrol), Camper & Nicholsons Marina Investments Limited (CNMIL) acquired 70% of the Company at a price of only Lm0.56 per share on 22 June 2007. In accordance with Listing Rule 18.8 of the Malta Financial Services Authority, CNMIL made a Mandatory Bid to acquire the remaining 3,000,000 publicly listed GHM shares at a price of Lm0.745 per share. On 9 August CNMIL announced that it had acquired a further 917,209 shares in GHM, thereby increasing its shareholding to 79.2% of the total issued share capital of the Company. This brought GHM’s free float to below the minimum threshold of 25% and following requests made by the Company, the Listing Authority granted the required dispensation for the Company to retain its listing on the Malta Stock Exchange.

The agreement for the management of the marina with Camper & Nicholsons Marinas Limited, which is owned by the Chairman of Grand Harbour Marina Mr. Nick Maris, is due to expire on 31 December 2007.  The agreement relates to the appointment of Camper & Nicholsons Marinas Limited as exclusive sales agents for long-term berths and also the right to use the Camper & Nicholsons brand name. The Directors of GHM stated in the 2007 Half-Year Report that it is considering negotiating a new management agreement with Camper & Nicholsons Marinas Limited for a longer duration.

Grand Harbour Marina is currently finalising the development of the Capitanerie which will provide the location for administration offices, meeting areas for yacht owners and crew members as well as other facilities for servicing customers’ requirements. It is also reportedly seeking to maximising the use of the water area and increasing the overall capacity of the marina. During the IPO in February 2007, the Company had also indicated its willingness to operate the other yacht marinas in Malta which are expected to be privatised by the Government of Malta in the coming years.