Malita Investments plc - Interim Results

On 22 August 2023, Malita Investments plc published its condensed interim financial statements covering the six-month period ended 30 June 2023.

Revenues surged by 11.3% to €4.68 million. Lease income and ground rent increased by 8.6% to €4.47 million driven by increases in lease income from the OpenAir Theatre and the Parliament Building due to inflation adjustments. Malita also recognised a higher level of income from the Affordable Housing Project (reflecting the accounting treatment of revenues and costs) of €0.21 million compared to €0.09 million in H1 2022.

On the expenditure side, administrative costs doubled to €0.54 million compared to €0.27 million in H1 2022. Nonetheless, operating profit increased by 5.1% to €4.14 million compared to €3.94 million in the first half of 2022.

The financial performance of Malita was positively impacted by fair value movements of investment property of €7.30 million in contrast to the negative movements of €32.5 million recorded in the first half of 2022. Malita explained that the positive movement reflected the downward movement in yields during the period.

After accounting for net finance income of €0.49 million and a tax expense of €1.49 million, the net profit for the period under review amounted to €10.4 million compared to a loss of €27.1 million in the first half of 2022, which had been substantially impacted by the negative fair value movements on investment property.

The condensed Statement of Financial Position as at 30 June 2023, compared to the corresponding figures as at 31 December 2022, shows that total assets expanded by 8.6% (or €12.5 million) to €284.8 million, principally composed of investment property of €210.3 million and the recognition of the assets related to the Affordable Housing Project totalling €56.2 million. Meanwhile, total liabilities increased by 3.3% (or €4.2 million) to €130.7 million, which includes borrowings amounting to €90.8 million and lease liabilities of €3.5 million. Total equity increased by 5.7% (or €8.3 million) to €154.1 million, which translates into a net asset value per share of €1.040 (31 December 2022: €0.984).

Dividend

The Directors of Malita declared a net interim dividend of €0.00858 per share. This is payable on Tuesday 26 September 2023 to all shareholders as at the close of trading on Friday 1 September 2023. The net dividend is 23% lower than the corresponding net interim dividend of €0.0112 paid in September last year reflecting the effect of a higher tax rate on an unchanged gross dividend.

Outlook

In their commentary, the Directors explained that the Affordable Housing Project is making significant progress. As at the publication of the financial statements, 115 units out of the total 748 units expected from the project were completed and leased. Meanwhile, construction works for all the sites apart from Luqa were completed. All the tenders apart from those related to the Luqa site were issued, and those related to the Luqa site are expected to be issued by the end of 2023. Furthermore, the company plans to complete and make available an additional 243 units by the end of 2023.

The Board also noted that it is in an advanced stage of discussions for securing the additional financing required to complete the Affordable Housing Project.