Mediterranean Maritime Hub (MMH) has so far successfully averted what could have been Malta’s first major bond default, confirming it will pay €720,000 in interest to its bondholders.
A spokesperson for MMH told WhosWho.mt that preparations to meet its obligations have been ongoing for some time.
"We have always ensured that we meet this responsibility," she says.
The interest payment is scheduled for next Tuesday, 14th October, while the bond itself is set to mature on 14th October 2026.
Last August, MMH Finance confirmed that it will be able to meet its bond interest obligations.
Yet the situation remained unstable, as MMH announced yet another delay in publishing its audited financial statements for 2024. Both these accounts, and its interim financial statements for the period ending 30th June 2025, are now expected to be released by 18th December 2025.
This represents a major extension beyond the original 30th April 2025 deadline, after the group had already postponed publication of its 2024 financial statements first to 30th June and later to 25th August.
Meanwhile last June, MMH announced that refinancing negotiations with a group of investors have “progressed satisfactorily.”
The company, which holds a 65-year lease over the former Marsa Shipbuilding site granted by the Maltese Government in 2016, has been trying to find strategic investors since at least the beginning of 2023, when it signed a letter of intent with Virtu Holdings, the operator of Virtu Ferries, and a subsidiary of Francis Busuttil & Sons, one of Malta’s leading food distributors.
That deal fell through, leading the company to admit in September 2024 that it will require “alternative financing” to redeem a €15 million bond falling due on 14 October 2026, issued through MMH Finance plc, the financing arm of the group.
Subsequent talks with the Government to negotiate a “balanced” termination of the concession were not successful, raising the very real possibility that bondholders would be left in the lurch.
That possibility now seems a bit less likely, with a group of major investors reportedly including business groups involved in shipping, fisheries, construction and logistics, among others, set to step in.
Learn more about MMH and the circumstances leading up to this development here.
