Features
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Lombard’s profits just shy of 2008 record level
Lombard Bank Malta plc published its 2010 financial statements on March 10 revealing a 12.9 per cent increase in profit after tax to €8.3 million. The profitability level achieved during 2010 was just shy of the all-time record of €8.4 million...
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Gender-based insurance to be phased out
Equality between men and women is a fundamental principle of the European Union. This is established in the Treaty of the EU and in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU, which prohibit any discrimination on grounds of gender and require...
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Eurozone sovereign debt back in focus
The euro rally from the back end of last week to early Monday morning took a pause on Tuesday as resurfacing of eurozone debt following Moody’s downgrade of Greece’s debt rating appeared to be weighing on the single currency. The rally in the euro...
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FimBank announces profits of $6.7 million
FimBank plc’s financial statements published last week reveal that the trade finance specialist generated a profit after tax of $6.7 million during 2010. This represents a significant increase over the previous year as the group “cautiously renewed...
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Focus on small businesses
The recent review of the Small Business Act for Europe by the European Commission provides a ray of hope for European small and medium sized enterprises that not all will be gloom and doom in the years to come. Less bureaucracy, improved access to...
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EU meetings in March could be market moving
March will be filled with major events for the euro. This week, the planned banking stress test criteria (banks should be tested in the first half of this year) are being discussed by the European Banking Association, and today the ECB holds its...
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The future of the MSE as global bourses merge
While in the past two weeks the turmoil in Libya has been dominating the news and sentiment across global financial markets has inevitably been hit, a few days earlier the wave of proposed mergers among international stock exchanges was hitting the...
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‘Crown jewels’ sporting events
Hot on the heels of the Advocate General’s recommendation that the territory-by-territory licensing by Premier League of its television broadcasting rights across the EU is to be considered contrary to EU law, two landmark judgements handed down by...
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‘Safer’ major currencies take the lead
With the United States on market holiday last Monday, EUR/USD price moves were fairly neutral throughout the day; the pair opened at 1.3692 and closed at 1.3678. Data was supportive for the euro on Monday with PMI numbers from France, Germany and...
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HSBC 2010 dividend payment set at 55 per cent
The financial statements of HSBC Bank Malta plc published last Friday afternoon reveal that the HSBC Malta Group returned to profitability growth after two years of declines from the record profits registered in 2007. Pre-tax profits generated by...
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No discrimination between EU nationals
The European Court of Justice has once more gone all the way to reinforce the fact that EU member states have to tread carefully when distinguishing between persons residing in their own territory or their own citizens and other EU citizens.
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Eurozone debt concerns regain the limelight
From Thursday to the earlier part of this week the euro was generally weaker hitting lows, last Monday, at 1.3428 against the US dollar. Resurfacing eurozone debt concerns weighed on the single currency – as the Egyptian concerns faded away they...
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Football of choice
An eagerly-awaited opinion of European Union Advocate General Juliane Kokott has been recently given in two legal battles between FA Premier League on the one hand and Karen Murphy, a publican and a decoder supplier QC Leisure on the...
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Volatility across the currency markets
Currency markets have always been volatile but this seems to have increased markedly since the international financial crisis in 2008. Investors seek to take advantage of such wide bouts of volatility although the timing of such movements is always...
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Trichet’s comments dampen expectations for rate hike
In his comments, following the European Central Bank interest-rate decision last Thursday, ECB president Jean Claude Trichet re-calibrated recent speculation for rate hikes from the ECB. The markets were interpreting recent inflation data and...
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Plaza’s third phase of expansion during its 17-year history
In the second interview with senior executives of companies whose shares or bonds are listed on the Malta Stock Exchange I met up with Lionel Lapira, CEO of Plaza Centres plc. Mr Lapira quickly starts the interview by talking about the origins of...
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The Consumer Rights Directive – A step in the right direction?
Significant progress has recently been registered in the long road towards the adoption of a somewhat controversial law which is intended to enhance the rights of consumers across Europe. First proposed by the European Commission way back in 2008,...
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Egyptian riots dent risk appetite
Riots in Egypt motivated by high unemployment and inflation and an authoritarian government have dominated news headlines this week and civilian protests escalated to a “million man march” on Tuesday. The Egyptian riots come just after a similar...
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The January stock market barometer
In recent weeks, many international financial commentators wrote about the January stock market barometer. Statistical studies conducted in the US suggest that stock market returns in January are a precursor of returns over the next 11 months of the...
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Entry restrictions in transport services
Taxi cabs are used frequently by passengers for conveyance in and around cities, especially in highly congested areas, even though fares are usually higher than other forms of public transport. The most frequently used mode of transportation...
