Strategic Objectives
The company’s investment portfolio started off with the reinvestment of the equity embedded in the dominium directum of the Malta International Airport and the Valletta Cruise Port, which in combination with the shares subscribed for in cash by the shareholders and further augmented by debt finance, was utilised to acquire the Parliament Building and Open-Air Theatre in Valletta. Following completion, these properties have been leased out at a rental yield commensurate with that generated in the commercial property market in Malta.
Presently, the company has sought debt finance to fund the Affordable Housing project. Once these affordable housing apartments are completed they will be leased out at commercial rates to persons in possession of a certificate from the Housing Authority with the subsidy available to these persons being directly payable to the company.
The company’s business profile is such that the existing revenue streams are highly visible and quantifiable, given that they arise from long term contractual agreements. These contracts also provide for the periodic revision of the ground rent and rental income arising. Furthermore, the risk of the debtors defaulting on the amounts receivable by the company is mitigated by the quality of tenants, the relativity of the amounts receivable compared to the market value of the Properties including the improvements undertaken thereon by the occupiers, as well as the inherent security enjoyed by the company at law as the dominus of the property sites.
The company’s cash outflows also carry a high degree of visibility. These comprise the cost of collection of the revenue streams and corporate administration costs and taxation. The resulting cash surplus is applied primarily in the servicing of borrowing and a high proportion of the balance is intended to be distributed in dividends to shareholders, such that the latter would receive a consistent return on the nominal value of their ordinary shares. The residual cash flows after these appropriations are set aside for further re-investment in line with the Issuer’s established investment mandate, as the same is determined from time to time by the investment committee set up by the board of directors.