SD Holdings Limited, the holdings company of db Group, registered an after-tax profit of €12.4 million, for the financial year ending March 31.

That represents an increase of €1.8 million more than last year, according to its annual report. 

It registered €70.8 million in revenue for the financial year with its total assets now reaching €376 million, up from the previous year’s €350 million. Its EBITDA - a financial performance measure that includes earnings before interest and tax - increased by 24%, factoring in at €30.4 million.

The increase in profitability and general performance was welcomed by the board of directors, particularly in view of high inflation which impacted the payroll and supply chain.

“In the last few years, the pandemic and the war in Ukraine posed unprecedented challenges to business, particularly in the sectors in which we have a footprint," group CEO Robert Debono said in a statement. 

"Through careful management of costs and an enhanced focus on driving up revenues with strategic investments, we managed to perform strongly and ended the financial year in a considerably stronger position."

It noted a much-improved performance in the accommodation and leisure sectors as the group emerged from the pandemic, with both recovering at a faster rate than originally anticipated. 

The group’s hotel portfolio occupancy increased to 85%, higher than the 81% occupancy rate of the last pre-pandemic financial year, which ended in March 2020. 

In the food and beverage sector the db Group almost doubled its figures, reaching a turnover of €25.4 million compared to €14.1 million in the previous year.

This was mainly due to the performance of Starbucks, as well as the opening of new restaurants - LOA in St Paul’s Bay, Tora and Manta in Sliema, and Verani at the Malta International Airport. 

With this revamped branding, the Group is now looking to expand internationally.

A central London office has been set up to manage these strategic global investments. A new restaurant at Cavendish Square will be the group's first foray beyond Maltese shores.

The db Group has also unveiled its new branding which incorporates a set of new colours and fonts to reflect an outward-looking Maltese identity.

The group is now engaged in the preparatory stages to execute its signature project on the former ITS site in St George’s Bay.

This project overcame the final hurdle in May when Chief Justice Mark Chetcuti quashed an appeal, upholding a Planning Authority permit granted to db Group.

It went through an eight-year battle by objectors in front of the Planning Authority and the law courts.