VBL Group has just completed an Initial Public Offering that saw the company sell over 14 million shares in what the company called a 'confirmation' of its ambitions. 

On Tuesday, the stock was admitted to the MSE, while Wednesday marked the first day where the company’s shares could be traded.

Julian Tzvetkov, Chief Financial Officer of VBL plc, described the equity listing on the main market of the MSE as a “major landmark event” and a “major step towards the implementation of VBL’s strategic plans”.

Mr Tzvetkov expects the newly listed company to keep up its steep growth and to continue delivering on its firm commitment to continue paying regular, growing annual dividends to shareholders, as it has done in the past five years.

“VBL is best positioned to achieve these goals and it has all the necessary ‘ingredients’,” he says.

Founding shareholder, Executive Director and CEO Geza Szephalmi meanwhile says that the VBL Group has proven that Valletta is the crown jewel of the Maltese real estate market.

“Now we will prove that a good listed equity outperforms the best bond.”

Andrei Imbroll, Founder and Chairman of the Group, asserts that VBL has played a key role in making Valletta real estate investment “interesting and financially profitable”.

“We have now opened this opportunity to everyone. Our next goal is to lead the way in terms of equity investments locally.”

He believes many other equity listings will follow, which would, he says, help make MSE equity investments “an exciting proposition”.

Continuing the discussion, Mr Tzvetkov describes the overall result as encouraging, pointing out that besides several institutional investors, other “savvy professional investors” have committed to VBL by investing in its shares.

He also draws attention to the fact that “VBL today is technically a bank debt-free company”, explaining that it has the potential to diversify its financing sources and may use various other options to fund its mid- and long-term development.

“Operations show a very quick recovery for the industry, and we all see the results already, as life has returned more-or-less to normal. In the meantime, VBL has the necessary resources to continue with its development projects and plans.

“VBL’s approach has always been to ‘prove itself’ on the market, and we believe that the achieved results confirm that this has been well-founded ambition.”

Mr Tzvetkov closes by speaking on behalf of the entire VBL team in extending a “BIG thank you” to the Group’s existing and new investors for their “continuous trust and support in the process”.