“Fitch downgrades US credit rating from AAA to AA+…”

Fitfch Ratings downgraded the United States to AA+ from AAA.

Rating agency Fitch on Tuesday downgraded the U.S. government’s top credit rating, a move that drew an angry response from the White House and surprised investors, coming despite the resolution of the debt ceiling crisis two months ago.

Traders’ immediate response was to embark on a safe-haven push out of stocks and into government bonds and the dollar.

Fitch downgraded the United States to AA+ from AAA, citing fiscal deterioration over the next three years and repeated down-the-wire debt ceiling negotiations that threaten the government’s ability to pay its bills.

Fitch had first flagged the possibility of downgrade in May, then maintained that position in June after the debt ceiling crisis was resolved, saying it intended to finalize the review in the third quarter of this year.

With the downgrade, it becomes the second major rating agency after Standard & Poor’s to strip the United States of its triple-A rating.

Fitch’s move came two months after Democratic President Joe Biden and the Republican-controlled House of Representatives reached a debt ceiling agreement that lifted the government’s $31.4 trillion borrowing limit, ending months of political brinkmanship.

“In Fitch’s view, there has been a steady deterioration in standards of governance over the last 20 years, including on fiscal and debt matters, notwithstanding the June bipartisan agreement to suspend the debt limit until January 2025,” the rating agency said in a statement.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen disagreed with Fitch’s downgrade, in a statement that called it “arbitrary and based on outdated data.”

The White House had a similar view, saying it “strongly disagrees with this decision”.

“It defies reality to downgrade the United States at a moment when President Biden has delivered the strongest recovery of any major economy in the world,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

Malta:

7.2 million passengers expected at MIA this year

Malta International Airport is forecasting around 7.2 million passengers to pass through the terminal in 2023, which would be almost a return to the record 2019 year when 7.3 million passengers has used MIA before Covid-19 struck, the company said Tuesday.

Traffic for the first half of the year amounted to 3.43 million passengers, surpassing 2019 highs by 5.6% and putting Malta International Airport among a group of European airports (48%) whose mid-year passenger volumes exceeded pre-pandemic traffic. In parallel, the airport registered buoyant monthly seat load factors (SLF) that peaked in June at 86% and outperformed both 2022 and 2019 levels.

These results indicate that the appetite for travel to the Maltese Islands has not waned despite challenging macroeconomics, Malta International Airport CEO, Alan Borg said. However, referring to a travel sentiment survey published in July by the European Travel Commission (ETC), Borg noted that inflation and rising airfares are expected to start dragging down demand for travel in Europe.

“We are extremely satisfied with our mid-year performance, yet we cannot let our guard down if we are to maintain our momentum against expected headwinds. To this end, we remain committed to working with the Malta Tourism Authority on securing more connections for our islands, particularly since, until now, the recovery of our connectivity continues to lag behind that of passenger volumes,” Borg said, going on to thank the airport team and all stakeholders for their contribution to what has been an exceptional first half.

In a statement on the Stock Exchange, the company said that the Group’s revenue for the period under review – January and June 2023 – registered an increase of 43.8% over 2022 to total €53.6 million.

Having taken into consideration the solid financial and traffic results for the first half as well as its expectations for the winter season, Malta International Airport has updated the guidance issued in January 2023. By the end of the year, the company expects to have hosted 7.2 million passengers and generated revenues amounting to €113 million, the notice said.

Malta Tourism Authority Chief Executive Officer, Carlo Micallef, also expressed his satisfaction with how Malta International Airport’s mid-year traffic performance had translated into record results in tourism numbers.

Having considered its solid traffic performance and expectations for the winter season, the company announced the payment of an interim dividend of €0.03c per share to its shareholders.

Malta Company Announcements:

Plaza Centres plc

Shareholders as at close of trading on Friday, 11^th August 2023 will receive an interim dividend of €0.0098 per share, which will be paid on Wednesday, 30^th August 2023. 2023.

Malta International Airport plc

The Board of directors declared an interim dividend of €0.03 per share, after considering their strong financial performance. The dividend will be paid to all shareholders as at close of trading on Monday, 21^st August 2023 by not later than Friday 15^th September 2023.

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