The Maldives Transport and Contracting Company’s shareholders rejected an MVR4 per share dividend proposed by the board of directors. Some 61 shareholders voted against the proposal while 54 voted in favour at MTCC’s annual general meeting, which took place at the Kurumba resort.
The proposed dividend payout of MVR32.15 million (US$2 million) was the highest figure in the state-owned company’s 42-year history.
MTCC earned a record MVR2.47 billion as revenue and an MVR324.16 million operating profit last year, according to its 2022 annual report. But a profit before tax of MVR229.15 million was down 15% from the previous year due to the impact of higher oil and global commodity prices.
The company was awarded 62 infrastructure projects in 2022, during which it completed 42 projects.
India regained first place as the top source market for tourists to the Maldives, overtaking Russia for the first time this year.
Some 101,348 Indian holidaymakers visited as of 13 June, representing a market share of 11.8%. Russia was in second place with 100,593 tourists, followed by the UK, Germany, Italy, China, United States, France, Switzerland and South Korea.
A total of 857,444 tourist arrivals were recorded by mid-June, up 14.2% from the same period last year. The average duration of stay was down marginally to 7.7 days.
The government hopes to exceed the pre-pandemic annual arrivals record with 1.8 million tourists this year.
The government is planning to offer tax cuts to Addu City businesses in a bid to boost the economy of the southernmost atoll.
“When the projects invested in by the government are completed, about 7,000 beds would be added in addition to the 1,528 beds (including Shangri-La) currently registered in Addu. The current bed capacity would increase more than fourfold. In addition to tourism, the government is doing the work necessary to provide tax concessions to businesses operating in Addu in order to transform the entire economic landscape,” president’s office secretary Ahmed Hamdhan tweeted, referring to ongoing projects for land reclamation, road construction, airport expansion and the creation of new islands for resort development.
The Maldives Inland Revenue Authority collected MVR1.7 billion (US$110 million) as revenue in May, up 30% compared to the same month last year. Receipts from goods and services taxes as well as the airport development fee and departure tax were higher as tourist arrivals increased by 13% in April. Some taxpayers also opted to make the final payment for the corporate income tax during the month, the tax authority noted.
Receipts from the sales tax for both the domestic and tourism sectors also increased after a hike in the GST rates took effect in January.
Bank of Maldives announced a new promotion for “all BML Islamic Financing products applied and approved” during a promotion period from 10 June to 22 July. A weekly lucky winner stands to win MVR3,000 every week and the grand winner will receive MVR 50,000.
