GO plc held its Annual General Meeting today, Wednesday, to provide shareholders with an overview of the Company’s results in 2011 and update them on the current market conditions and performance outlook for this year. The AGM also discussed a number of resolutions put forward by shareholders.

During his presentation Chief Executive Officer, David Kay, explained to shareholders that despite increased competition across the Company’s entire product range GO managed to increase normalised operating profit from €23.1 million to €23.7 million. Mr Kay also gave details of the operations of all the different areas in which GO is active, namely, mobile, TV, internet, fixed line telephony and data storage.

Prior to Mr Kay’s address, GO Chairman, Deepak Padmanabhan, also addressed sharholders. Mr Padmanabhan explained that the Group had kept its turnover stable at €131.6 million while also registering an increase in its normalised EBITDA, an important cash generating indicator for the industry, to €51.4 million in 2011.

Mr Padmanabhan acknowledged that GO had been through a “particularly challenging period” due to the ongoing difficulties in Greece and the impact this has had on GO plc’s investment in the Greek telecommunications company, Forthnet, which resulted in a substantial charge of €62.3 million on the Company’s 2011 figures and lead to a loss, before taxation, of €45.2 million.

Mr Padmanabhan, however, also expressed the firm conviction that “with the bulk of the Greek investment write-downs now having been taken into account, the fundamentals of GO plc remain viable, with a healthy balance sheet and, more importantly, reasonable medium-term prospects for cash – and profit – generation. So, there is light for us all at the end of the tunnel.”

Mr Padmanabhan also reminded shareholders that the decision to invest in Greece was taken in 2008 on the basis of the relatively limited potential of the Maltese market and the fact that at the time Greece was considered as one of the few remaining sizeable growth markets in Europe. This was a full two years before the current crisis unravelled . He also pointed out that in the very worst possible scenario, meaning the writing off of the entire investment, GO’s 2012 figures can not be impacted further by more than Euro3.6 million.

During his speech Mr Padmanabhan spoke about the issue of the transfer of property in Qawra to the Government, explaining that “the land had been valued indepenedently at circa Euro 14 million and that this was being swapped in return for no less than eleven different properties, which GO already uses and which have a value equivalent to that in Qawra. The security of tenure which we will have on the eleven operational sites which we are acquiring in exchange for Qawra strengthens GO’s position considerably.” commented Mr Padmanabhan.

Specifically on GO’s operations in Malta, Mr Padmanabhan expressed satisfaction at the “remarkable results” given current economic conditions, adding also that these “compare very favourably with what our competitors in Malta are able to deliver.”

He concluded by thanking customers for their business, GO’s employees for their dedication and diligence and shareholders for their on-going patience and support.

‘We know this has been very difficult for all of you, this is regrettable and understandable for we have been through a considerable, and in many ways unprecedented, storm. But GO plc remains in very good shape and is certainly robust enough to sail through without sustaining any further serious damage.”

The following is a Company announcement issued by GO p.l.c. (“the Company”) pursuant to Malta Financial Services Authority Listing Rules.

“The Company refers to the Company announcement issued on 24 February 2012, whereby it had announced that it had reached an agreement with the Government of Malta to transfer eleven properties, collectively referred to as the ‘GOM Properties,’ from the Government of Malta to the Company, subject to Parliamentary approval.

The Company further announces that Parliament has approved the above transaction and the deed has been published today, by Notary Tania Spiteri Notary Public at the Government Property Division.”

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