Financial news

During yesterday's trading session at the Malta Stock Exchange, history was made as investors greeted the listing of its first sterling denominated issue, 6pm Holdings, following its successful intermediary's offer last week.

In general, activity remained relatively soft with the MSE Index closing the day slightly weaker at 4,863 points. 6pm Holdings, through its full owned subsidiary, is principally engaged in the provision of managed IT services and systems integration that supports enterprise software.

The group is focused on servicing clients with pre-installed operating systems and databases and others who find it more cost-effective to outsource their IT demands. The opening trade was struck at £0.68, however, a subsequent trade was later executed at £0.67, thereby restoring the price back to its private placement's offer level.

Bank of Valletta seemed to be heading for a positive close as the equity climbed 1c7 during the session to touch a high of Lm3.62. However, towards the end of the session a fresh supply hit the market flushing the price down to close slightly in negative territory at Lm3.60,1.

The bank's full year reporting season ends this week, with the results expected for publication by the end of October.

HSBC Bank Malta suffered under a continued bout of selling activity. During yesterday's session, a total of 7,910 shares were swapped across nine transactions, forcing a 0c5 retreat in its price which terminated the session at Lm1.90,5.

Maltacom shares traded flat at Lm1.40 on low volume. Earlier in the day the quadruple play provider announced the appointment of Norbert Prihoda, a Slovak national who has served as the Group Marketing Director for Emirates International Telecommunications, as their Chief Mobile Operations Officer. He will take up his post by mid-October.

Elsewhere in the market, deals struck in FIMBank and Plaza Centres did not affect their previous closing prices of $1.94 and Lm0.74c respectively.

European stocks drop following fall in oil

Yesterday, European equity markets fell with the downward slide led by oil and gas stocks. Oil groups fell after losses for crude prices on commodity markets. BP fell 2.5 per cent after the Financial Times reported the company was poised to unveil "dreadful" results, while French rival Total lost 1.31 per cent and Royal Dutch Shell shed 1.1 per cent. By midday, FTSE Eurofirst 300 dropped 1.2 per cent, Frankfurt's Xetra Dax fell 0.7 per cent and the CAC 40 in Paris lost 1 per cent.

London equity markets fell as mining and oil groups retreated. The FTSE 100 index was down 0.8 per cent, while the FTSE 250 fell 0.9 per cent. Japanese stocks posted mild gains as the market reopened after a holiday on Monday. The Nikkei 225 index rose 0.6 per cent, with shipping and property companies among the winners. The broader Topix added 1 per cent.

US stock-index futures dropped after reduced forecasts from Target Corp. and Lowe's Cos. heightened concern that consumer spending is slowing amid the worst housing slump in at least 16 years.

The financial news was compiled by Valletta Fund Management (Tel. 8007 2344) and Bank of Valletta plc (Tel. 2131 2020). BOV and VFM are licensed by the MFSA to conduct investment services business.