Malta on flight lockdown as gambling share prices tumble over coronavirus
Betting stocks take a battering as Malta-based operators react to the country’s newly imposed flight restrictions
The coronavirus outbreak has brought Malta to a screeching halt as gambling operators start to feel the full force of the global pandemic.
The Maltese government announced a travel ban between the Mediterranean nation and Switzerland, Germany, France and Spain last night, with an existing ban already in place for Italy – Europe’s worst affected country.
Returning travellers to Malta from any of the countries under the travel ban must self-isolate for two weeks. Failure to do so could result in a €1,000 fine.
Since 27 February, travellers returning to Malta from China, Singapore, Japan, Iran and South Korea have been told to self-quarantine for 14 days.
Malta has confirmed seven cases of coronavirus so far and Prime Minister Robert Abela called for calm among the Maltese people.
He said: “The situation is under control and the country is well prepared. We will do whatever is necessary to safeguard the people’s health.”
In a statement released today, Malta’s President George Vella asked for “everyone to follow the directives and advice given all the time by the health authorities”.
Below, Malta-based operators and affiliates speak to EGR Intel about the measures being taken to minimise the impact of Covid-19 on daily operations:
Kindred Group
“It is of course affecting our travel; however, we have already initiated a business-critical travel policy.
“We are following the developments related to coronavirus closely and our recommendation to employees in all offices is to follow local government advice.”
Catena Media
“We don’t see any negative impact to our operations as a result of this as we already applied a very strict travel policy across all our offices globally as a result of Covid-19.
“Hence very few staff members are out travelling and for those who are, we have taken required actions to safeguard their return or arrange for them to manage their tasks from a remote location.”
Raketech
“This is really a time when the benefits of being based in Malta together with so many of our clients really helps us. We are able to go on with our business effectively as the bulk of our B2B meetings occur on the island.
“Even our IR efforts can be effectively conducted remotely as we saw when we broadcasted our Q4 report from Malta. Obviously, there is a macroeconomic element here beyond our control, but as far as day-to-day business we will be doing okay for the time being.”
GiG
“Obviously, the wellbeing of our colleagues and their families are our top priority, and we have been following all official advice and guidelines from each country’s government health authority and WHO, up to and including mandatory quarantine and cancellation of flights.
“This includes implementing our own BCP measures preparing all of our people to work remotely if required, thus ensuring there will be no break in service offered to our operators.
“The flights being banned into Malta won’t negatively impact our operations, we are an agile company, and will continue to work business as usual. Our teams are ready to work remotely if needs be using the tools and technology we have available, ensuring there will be no interruption to the services we offer.”
Betsson
“It’s a situation that we’ve been monitoring very closely since the outbreak started in Europe. We had already issued a business travel restriction across all our offices, as well as introduced self-quarantine to anyone coming from, or through, high-risk areas.
“In Malta, we have extended this to cover Germany, France, Spain, and Switzerland too, as imposed by the Maltese government.
“At the moment, we are not foreseeing any disruptions in our operations and we have a contingency plan, should things worsen. We are keeping people up-to-date via our intranet and emails.
We will continue monitoring the situation very closely and amend our controls and our way of operating accordingly.”
Hell's bells Mary. pic.twitter.com/etaPD1gNuK
— Guy Harding (@GuyHardingBC) March 12, 2020
Despite operators imposing sanctions of their own, the stock market has reacted negatively to the outbreak.
Share prices have fallen dramatically across the industry, with fears that sporting events could be cancelled causing a sense of investor unease.
GVC Holdings’ share price was down more than 12% in early trading, while William Hill and Flutter saw drops of 6.23% and 5.82% respectively.