Grand Harbour Marina plc - Full-Year Results
On 3 April, Grand Harbour Marina plc published its financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2014.
Performance Overview
Grand Harbour Marina (Malta)
During 2014, the Group’s marina in Malta registered an 8.3% increase in revenue to €3.4 million largely reflecting the increased occupancy of the water area across the pontoon berths (up 3 percentage points to 97%) as well as the higher occupancy of super yacht berths by visiting yachts (increased to 178 from 152) which reached 63% in 2014 compared to 54% in 2013. Meanwhile, conditions for the sale of long-term super yacht berth licences remained challenging and no sales were completed during 2014.
Given the increased activity at the marina, operational expenses also increased by 5.3% to €2.3 million. Nonetheless, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) still increased by 15.1% to €1.1 million and the EBITDA margin improved by 1.9 percentage points to 31.7%.
After deducting depreciation of €0.31 million and net interest costs of €0.8 million, Grand Harbour Marina (Malta) achieved a pre-tax breakeven position compared to the €0.08 million pre-tax loss incurred in 2013.
IC Cesme Marina (Turkey)
The Group’s marina in Turkey, in which it has a 45% shareholding, also registered a 10.7% increase in turnover to €4.8 million as berthing contracts reached 357 (2013: 330 contracts) with the marina reaching full occupancy in terms of berth numbers, and 72% occupancy in terms of water area by the end of 2014. The Annual Report also noted that berth pricing increased by 13% on average as annual contract renewals became due. On the landside, retail properties remained fully occupied during the year with management seeking to change tenants where necessary to improve the quality of the customer offering.
On the expenditure side, cost of sales were maintained at levels similar to 2013 whilst operating expenses dropped by €0.3 million partly due to the exchange rate impact. This led to an overall improvement in EBITDA of 44.1% to €2.2 million.
After accounting for depreciation and finance costs, the marina in Turkey reported a pre-tax profit of €0.8 million compared to €0.1 million in 2013.
Grand Harbour Marina plc owns a 45% shareholding in IC Cesme and as such its share of profit for 2014 amounted to €0.4 million compared to the marginal share of loss of profit attributed in 2013.
Consolidated
Overall, the Group reported a pre-tax profit of €0.34 million compared to the marginal pre-tax loss of €0.05 million in 2013. This was the first time the Group reported a pre-tax profit without berth sales. After accounting for a tax charge of €0.17 million (20132: €0.04 million), GHM reported a net profit of €0.17 million compared to a net loss of €0.09 million in 2013.
The Statement of Financial Position shows a 5.5% drop in total assets to €16.6 million largely reflecting the utilisation of most of the €0.8 million in proceeds from the disposal of investments. The funds were mainly used to finance €0.37 million of bond buy backs during the course of 2014. On the liabilities side, the Group reported a 1.8% drop in total liabilities to €13.8 million largely reflecting the reduction in the amount of bonds outstanding following the aforementioned bond buy backs. Overall, the Group’s equity base contracted by 20.4% to €2.8 million as the profit registered during the period under review was offset by the €0.84 million in dividends paid out in April 2014. This translates into a net asset value per share of €0.278 (2013: €0.349).
Outlook
Looking ahead, the Chairman noted that the improved profitability during 2014, in spite of the continued uncertainty across the international economic environment augurs well for further gains in 2015 whilst strengthening the sustainability of the Company and plan for the next stage of development. In this respect, Grand Harbour Marina plans is seeking to strengthen its collaboration with the its Turkish partners, Ibrahim Cecen Investment Holding AS.
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