GO registered an 18.9 per cent increase in pre-tax profits last year and shareholders approved a 10c dividend before tax.

Details on GO's financial performance were divulged this morning during the annual general meeting, held at the Hilton Hotel.

Pre-tax profits reached €34.2 million. Revenue increased by 1.2 per cent up to €123.7 million while costs declined by 2.8 per cent down to €96.3 million.

Deepak Padmanabhan

Chairman Deepak Padmanabhan described 2015 as having been "a very positive and robust year for the company".

Looking at the year ahead, he said that by next month the company would have reached full 4G mobile data coverage all over the Maltese Islands. Go was also investing €60 million in the 4G and fiber-to-the-home project. At present, the service was available to 33,000 households.

Speaking about plans for majority shareholder Emirates International Telecommunications to sell its stake in the company, the GO chairman said that the non-binding bids received were being evaluated and the preferred bidder would be announced "sooner rather than later".

Yiannos Michaelides

Chief executive officer Yiannos Michaelides told shareholders that the company had over 500,000 connections, making it the largest telecommunications company on the island.

Asked by the shareholders what was the effect of the abolition of roaming charges, Mr Michaelides said some new products were in the pipeline.

While the measure was positive for consumers the company had to compensate for the loss in revenue for the effect to be negligible in the long run.

Asked about the rationale behind the purchase of a majority stake in Cypriot company Cablenet earlier this year, Mr Michaelides said this company was set to grow and exceed the number of subscribers which GO currently had in Malta.

GO had weighed on the decision for about a year before the acquisition before finally taking the plunge, he said.