Farsons' shareholders authorise property spin-off

The shareholders of Simons Farsons Cisk plc have approved a resolution that permits the board to implement or expedient the spin-off of a number of property assets into a separately listed public limited company.

The spin-off will be affected by way of a distribution of its shareholding in the Group’s property company, Trident Estates Ltd, to shareholders pro rata to the shares held by them in Simonds Farsons Cisk plc at the time of issue.

Trident Estates Ltd intends to file an application with the Listing Authority for admission to listing of its shares on the Malta Stock Exchange.

“Although most of our property portfolio is utilised within the Group’s core brewing and beverage operations, a number of property interests offer scope for re-development,” Farsons’ chairman Louis Farrugia said. “As previously announced, our Board believes it would therefore be advantageous to separate a portion of the Group’s property portfolio into a new structure.”

“Our Board commissioned the revaluation of the properties forming part of the spin-off by a firm of professional architects to reflect current market values. This revaluation resulted in a surplus net of deferred tax of €4.6 million, credited to reserves, and €0.4 million included in the profit for the year.”

He added that a positive year-on-year performance has enabled Farsons to pursue an aggressive capital expenditure programme, including the recently inaugurated €27 million Beer Packaging Facility, and several other projects. The Board is also evaluating the current debt structure for the group including the possibility to redeem the existing Bonds and issue new Bonds over the coming months.

“The Group registered a record profit for the year of €12 million, exceeding last year's record performance by 8%.,” Farsons Group chief executive Norman Aquilina said. “Whilst continuing to seek growth opportunities in our domestic market, we will maintain a strong focus on innovating and internationalising our business further to realise our aspirations of becoming a regional brewery.”