The Mauritius Investment Corporation (MIC) recorded a profit of Rs 212.5 million for the year 2022-23, representing a decline of 90.76%. But this subsidiary of the Bank of Mauritius still has a well-stocked safe. She has Rs 31.6 billion in cash. Not to mention the fact that she has acquired significant land assets.
The Mauritius Investment Corporation (MIC) has not yet made public its annual report for 2022-23. But it has already filed its figures with the Registrar of Companies for that financial year. They indicate that the subsidiary of the Bank of Mauritius (BoM) recorded a turnover of Rs 639,164,000, that is to say Rs 639.2 million.
They also reveal that she made a profit of Rs 212,476,000, or Rs 212.5 million. This represents a sharp drop compared to the previous financial year, that is to say from July 2021 to June 2022, during which the MIC made a profit of Rs 2.3 billion. Which therefore represents a drop of 90.76%.
Founded in 2020 by the BoM, with an injection of 2 billion US dollars (around Rs 80 billion at the time), to provide financial support to the economy during the COVID-19 pandemic, the MIC is however still equipped with a richly furnished safe. In terms of cash and equivalents, it has Rs 31,579,039,000 (Rs 31.6 billion).
As of January 31, it had injected Rs 52.3 billion into 52 private companies. About half of this sum was an investment of Rs 25 billion to acquire 49% of Airport Holdings Ltd (AHL) in 2021. This conglomerate, of which the other 51% belongs to the State, owns Air Mauritius, Plaisance airport, through AML and ATOL, and Plaine-Corail airport, Mauritius Duty Free Paradise Ltd, among others.
As of December 31, 2022, MIC had invested Rs 48.6 billion in 48 entities. For the first six months of 2023, it has invested an additional Rs 3.7 billion in different projects and companies. At the end of June 2022, the assets under management of the MIC totaled Rs 82.3 billion. For the end of the financial year 2022-23, the figure has increased to Rs 82.9 billion.
In just three years, the BoM subsidiary has acquired a rich land heritage. From Medine, which was short of cash, the MIC purchased 579.2 acres in December 2021 for Rs 2.5 billion. These lands are located in Albion, La Chaumière, Chebel and Flic-en-Flac.
At the end of December, the MIC made a request to obtain an EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) permit from the Ministry of the Environment for a subdivision of 993 plots (including 980 residential plots and 13 residential/commercial plots) extending over 53, 5 hectares in Albion. This land comes from the deal with Medine.
The MIC also bought, in 2022, part of Omnicane's land, including the Mon Trésor Smart City for Rs 4.5 billion. In this transaction, there were 282.95 acres of agricultural and residential land located in Plaine-Magnien, near the Plaisance airport, but also another 178.08 acres of agricultural land located in Britannia and 42.29 acres of land agricultural in Plaine-Magnien. The Mon Trésor Smart City has been renamed into MIC Smart City. The BoM subsidiary hopes to be able to start work on this vast project this year, or even in 2025.
