Mediterranean Maritime Hub (MMH Group) is hoping to carry out a 49% share transfer to external investors Salvu Ellul and MJK Cranes by the end of April 2026, in a bid to obtain badly-needed capital for the full repayment of a €15 million bond upon maturity in October 2026.
A newly published financial analysis summary, prepared by intermediaries Calamatta Cuschieri, says the company has now registered a pre-tax profit of €696,000 in 2025 – a reversal of the preceding years’ losses.
Pending the share transfer, the verdict is still out on whether MMH will be able to repay its bond: as recently as December, auditors PricewaterhouseCoopers warned of a “material uncertainty that may cast significant doubt on the ability of the MMH Group to continue as a going concern,” due to a lack of cash to repay the bond.
Calamatta Cuschieri’s analysis says the share transfer is now subject to confirmatory due diligence and regulatory approvals. “A primary objective of this capital injection is to prioritise the full repayment of the bond upon its maturity in October 2026, including all interest accrued to the redemption date.”
According to the analysis, total liabilities have however only declined marginally to €38.6 million. But MMH’s profitability is now projected to strengthen in 2026, with pre-tax profit rising to €2.6 million, as revenue grows by 18% to €23.1 million.
In 2025, administrative expenses remained broadly stable at €3.6m, and in 2026 they are forecast to increase only modestly by about €50,000, indicating disciplined overhead management as revenues scale.
Total equity has now recovered to €2.3m, after decreasing in 2024 to €1.8m due to net losses.
Beleaguered concession
MMH was granted a 65-year concession by the government in 2016 to operate the former shipbuilding site in Marsa as a services hub for the oil and gas industry.
But the company failed to turn the project into a success and the site was used as a yacht-servicing facility, boatyard and even a convention centre, in breach of the concession’s obligations.
Indeed, the analysis shows yachting servicing has now emerged as MMH’s primary revenue driver in 2025 – 33% of total revenue – a significant growth underpinned by the ongoing development of the dry marina. The structural business shift has meant its previous top revenue driver, the provision of technical personnel, has now declined sharply to 12%.
MMH had been seeking a cash injection from prospective investors due to the state of its equity since 2022, when auditors warned of material uncertainties affecting its going concern status.
But MMH failed to obtain regulatory clearance for a €10 million deal to sell off 70% of the concession to Virtu Holdings, the operators of the Malta-Pozzallo catamaran service, and LTV Developments, a subsidiary of the Francis Busuttil & Sons Ltd food importers.
The prospective share transfer was rumbled by rival companies who accused MMH of not abiding by its 2016 terms of concession.
In a protest to the industrial parks regulator INDIS, the Manoel Island Yacht Yard firm (MIYY) said MMH’s yachting and storage services breached the 2016 concession for an oil and gas servicing centre. MIYY accused INDIS of allowing MMH to breach the deed, which was affecting its own business at Manoel Island, also a lands concession granted in a public call for offers back in 2010.
Bond repayment
MMH issued a €15 million unsecured bond in 2016 to finance its redevelopment of the 165,000sq.m site, which includes 1,200m of Grand Harbour quayside and engineering workshops covering 30,500sq.m. The bond financed the transformation of the former shipyards into a maritime services hub targeting the oil and gas industry.
After MMH failed to obtain regulatory clearance to sell their concession to Virtu and LTV, the government agreed to allow INDIS to start talks with owner Paul Abela to take back the public concession by terminating the 65-year concession – to some Cabinet members, the prospect of a painless ‘bailout’ for a private company was a controversial option.
MMH’s repayment of the €15 million bond and interest now hinges on the long-promised capital injection from external investors, namely the tuna-farming entrepreneur and developer Salvu Ellul and Charles Cassar’s MJK Crane Hire and Logistics, who have committed to acquire a 49% stake.
