Malita Investments plc - Full-Year Results
On 01 March 2016, Malita Investments plc published its preliminary statement of financial results for the year ended 31 December 2015.
Performance Overview
During 2015, Malita Investments generated €6.94 million in revenue from the leases over the sites of Malta International Airport (MIA) and Valletta Cruise Port (VCP) coupled with the income arising from the contractual agreements in connection with the Parliament Building and Open-Air Theatre (collectively referred to as the City Gate Project). In the announcement, the Directors explained that the Company is currently waiting for the issuance of the completion certificate in connection with the Parliament Building. Furthermore, Malita is considering and evaluating a number of potential projects including ones with a mix of public/private participation.
Meanwhile, administrative expenses increased by 6.9% to €0.39 million (2014: €0.36 million). The financial statements also accounted for a lower uplift in the fair value of investment property of €11.61 million when compared to the previous year of €15.69 million. The investment properties are the sites of MIA and VCP. The improvement in the fair value reflects the higher present value attributable to the cash flows receivable by the Company in relation to these sites following the steep decline in interest rates on Malta Government Stocks which is used as the benchmark.
As a result, the Company registered an operating profit of €18.16 million, a decrease of 17.8% from the comparable figure for 2014. After accounting for net finance costs of €1.30 million (2014: €1.22 million), the Company’s pre-tax profit amounted to €16.86 million compared to the 2014 pre-tax profit figure of €20.86 million. During the year under review, the Company incurred a tax charge of just €0.28 million compared to €7.14 million in 2014 leading to a net profit for 2015 of €16.58 million.
The Company’s total assets increased by 8.2% over 2014 to €154.44 million on the back of the increase in the value of investment property as well as the slight increase in the Company’s current assets. Meanwhile, total liabilities dropped by 3.1% to €46.19 million. As a result, total equity increased by 13.9% to €108.25 million reflecting the profit registered during the period under review. The net asset value per share as at 31 December 2015 amounts to €0.731 (2014: €0.642).
Dividend
The Directors recommended the payment of a final gross dividend of €0.022 per share (net: €0.0143) to all shareholders (both ‘A’ and ‘B’) as at the close of trading on Tuesday 22 March. The final dividend will be paid on Friday 29 April subject to shareholders’ approval at the upcoming Annual General Meeting scheduled to be held on Tuesday 26 April.
Combined with the interim gross dividend of €0.0144 per share (net: €0.00936), the Company’s total gross dividend for 2015 amounts to €0.0364 (net: €0.02366) per share, representing an uplift of 1.1% over the dividend distribution in respect of the 2014 financial year. The 2015 dividend represents a gross dividend yield of 7.3% (net: 4.7%) on the IPO price of €0.50 in line with the dividend policy laid out in the July 2012 Prospectus and a gross dividend yield of 3.7% (net: 2.4%) on the current share price.