GlobalCapital p.l.c. convened its Annual General Meeting on Friday 29th July to present an overview of the Company's performance to shareholders and to seek shareholders' approval for a number of resolutions.
All resolutions were approved by the shareholders present at the Annual General Meeting, including the election of seven board members. At an Extraordinary General Meeting held a week earlier on 22nd July 2016, shareholders had also approved an authorization to raise the Company's share capital to €85 million, amongst other resolutions.
The new Board of Directors is now composed of Prof Paolo Catalfamo, Joseph Del Raso, Joseph Schembri and Andrea Gemma, who were all reconfirmed in a non-executive capacity, together with new non-executive board members Jacopo Di Stefano and Luca Galli. Mr Reuben Zammit, Group Chief Executive Officer, was also reconfirmed as a Director in an executive capacity.
Following the Annual General Meeting, the Board of Directors reconfirmed Prof Catalfamo as Chairman of GlobalCapital.
"Together with my colleagues serving on the Board of Directors, all my energy is focussed on building a promising future for GlobalCapital and its shareholders. Our core business of insurance will remain at the centre of our growth plans, adding an international dimension to our business, by making use of pass-porting services to other European territories. Discussions about distributing our unit-linked products in other territories are already underway and the Group will announce developments in the near future," said Prof Paolo Catalfamo, Chairman of GlobalCapital.
Prof Catalfamo thanked the previous Board of Directors and Interim Chairman Joseph R. Aquilina for serving the Group to the best of their abilities
GlobalCapital continues its strong operational performance
Group Chief Executive Officer Reuben Zammit explained that throughout 2015, the management team continued to work relentlessly towards the fulfilment of the Group's turnaround strategy with a view of increasing shareholder value and setting the Company on strong foundations for long-term financial sustainability.
For the financial year ending on 31st December 2015, GlobalCapital p.l.c. registered earnings before tax for a second consecutive year: an increase in pre-tax earnings of €4,795,354 over 2014 - from €811,151 in 2014 to €5,606,505 in 2015.
All the Group's regulated businesses performed exceptionally well and registered a profit. The Group's life company, health agency and investment company returned healthy contributions towards the overall profit.
Mr Zammit explained that the Group's core business of insurance is continuing its positive run even in 2016. In addition, he also remarked that the Group faced unique challenges during the first half of 2016 but all ended with a very successful outcome for the Group's corporate and financial standing.
Mr Zammit referred to the successful Rights' Issue in April, which increased the Group's share capital by 127%, returning a total net income of €4,740,000. The Group also fulfilled its obligations to repay the bond issue which matured on 2nd June 2016 and successfully issued a new, unsecured €10 million five-year bond paying an interest rate of 5%. Proceeds raised from the Rights' Issue the new bond issue were used for the repayment of the maturing Bond.
Mr Zammit thanked all employees for their hard work and great contribution to the Group's positive performance.