“France’s Macron launches political reset with PM change…”

France’s Macron launches political reset with PM change

French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne resigned on Monday, as President Emmanuel Macron seeks to give a new impetus to his second mandate ahead of European parliament elections and the Paris Olympics this summer.

Macron did not immediately name a successor for Borne, who will stay on as a caretaker along with the rest of the government until a new one is formed, the presidential palace said in a carefully choreographed move.

The change was made after a year marred by political crises triggered by contested reforms of the country’s pension system and immigration laws.

The move will not necessarily lead to a shift in political tack, but rather signal a desire to move beyond the pension and immigration reforms and focus on new priorities, including hitting full employment.

In her resignation letter, Borne said she and Macron agreed in their last meeting that “it was more necessary than ever to push on with reforms”.

European Parliament elections are scheduled to take place in June, with Eurosceptics expected to make record gains at a time of widespread public discontent over surging living costs and the failure of European governments to curb migration flows.

Among those cited as potential candidates to replace Borne are Education Minister Gabriel Attal, 34, and Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu, 37, either of whom would be France’s youngest prime minister.

Former Agriculture Minister Julien Denormandie, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire and Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, have also been mentioned by political sources as possible options for the prime minister’s job.

TURBULENT ENVIRONMENT

A soft-spoken career bureaucrat who served numerous Socialist Party ministers before joining Macron’s governments, Borne, 62, had been prime minister since May 2022. She was only the second woman to serve in the post.

Macron and his government, led by Borne, have struggled to deal with a more turbulent parliament to pass laws since losing their absolute majority shortly after he was re-elected for a second mandate in 2022.

The French president’s advisers say Macron has managed to pass the most challenging parts of his economic manifesto in the first year and a half of his second mandate, despite the lack of an absolute majority, and that future reforms, on education and euthanasia for instance, will be more consensual.

But the president’s decision to use executive powers last year to pass a contested increase in the pension age to 64 triggered weeks of violent protests.

The reshuffle is likely to intensify the race in Macron’s camp to succeed him in the next presidential election in 2027, with former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, Darmanin and Le Maire all seen as potential candidates.

But with Le Pen having spent the past 18 months in parliament working to detoxify her image and burnish her credentials as a potential president, many politicians now speculate she could win the next presidential election in 2027.

Malta:

VBL Group is expected to achieve €3 million in sales revenues 

VBL Group has announced that it is forecasted to close another year of outstanding operational results, continuing the established trend of financial and operational growth, delivering a projected 30% year-on-year increase in revenues, and establishing record EBITDA in the current financial year.

Based on management’s forecasts, VBL Group is expected to achieve €3 million in sales revenues and is forecasted to realise doubling its operational EBITDA, compared to the previous year.  The forecasted operational results are not taking into consideration the additional investment income, resulting from the development and investment activities of the Group as part of its normal course of business.

Continuing the positive trends of the first part of the year, in the second half of 2023, VBL has continued to record very strong operational results, demonstrating improving operational performance across the board.  Current forecasts of the main financial metrics suggest a significant growth in revenues and operational results compared to 2022 results.  VBL’s major development projects are progressing steadily, with several significant milestones reached, and the Group reaffirms earlier indicated interim delays in project development which are expected to be recovered in the mid-term. Delays experienced are linked to the very nature of VBL’s property assets, which makes them both unique historic buildings with considerable intrinsic value as well as challenging renovation projects to deliver in view of their complexity and priority on heritage preservation to which VBL pays particular attention.  

During 2023, VBL has managed to reduce significantly the impact of the financing gap caused by the lower then projected level of capital raised at the time of listing, through the long-term development facility secured.  The Group is committed to continue its growth and progresses firmly with the implementation of its strategic plans.  As part of this, VBL has also secured a new overdraft facility from Bank of Valletta, which will serve as additional liquidity reserve during the expected upcoming dynamic growth period of both operations and development of owned but not yet productive assets. 

Malta Company Announcements:

Malita Investments plc

Malita Investments plc announced on 28^th December 2023, that following the redesignation of its authorised and issued share capital as approved in the Extraordinary General Meeting, the 118,108,064 shares held by the Government of Malta were admitted to the Official List of the Malta Stock Exchange.

As a result, the total amount of shares listed on the Official List of the Malta Stock Exchange amounts to 148,108,064.

VBL plc

VBL hereby announces that as of the 29^th December 2023 is has raised a total of €295,500 and will proceed to issue and allot a total of 1,136,538 ordinary shares each having a nominal value of €0.20c with a premium of €0.06c in VBL, all fully paid-up.

GO plc

The Board of Directors has discussed and approved the payment of an interim dividend of €0.15 net of taxation per share. The payment of this Net Dividend amounts to the total sum of €15.2 million and represents part of the proceeds received from the transaction with BMITT.

This will be paid on Thursday, 1st February 2024 to all shareholders who appear on the shareholders’ register of Thursday, 18^th January 2024.

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