Stock Exchange: Further strong gains by Middlesea
Following yesterday’s 6.7% increase to €0.80, the share price of Middlesea Insurance plc climbed a further 6.25% this morning to close the session at the €0.85 level on total volumes of 8,740 shares. The rally in Middlesea’s share price in the past two...
Following yesterday’s 6.7% increase to €0.80, the share price of Middlesea Insurance plc climbed a further 6.25% this morning to close the session at the €0.85 level on total volumes of 8,740 shares. The rally in Middlesea’s share price in the past two days is in reaction to the publication of the Interim Directors’ Statement early Monday morning revealing that the Group registered a pre-tax profit of €2.8 million during the first quarter of 2009 (Q1 2009: loss of €5.3 million) on the back of satisfactory results by Middlesea Insurance and its associate company Middlesea Valletta Life Co. Ltd.
The only other positive performer of the day was HSBC Bank Malta plc whose share price edged 0.3% higher to €3.07 on light volumes. Meanwhile, Bank of Valletta plc lost some of yesterday’s gains as the equity eased by 0.6% to €3.30 on total activity of just over 18,000 shares.
MaltaPost plc continued trading at its recent high of €0.90 with Simonds Farsons Cisk plc closing unchanged at €1.80 on volumes of just over 11,000 shares. On the other hand the share price of Malta International Airport plc declined by 1.6% to €3.10 possibly as a result of further flight cancellations yesterday due to the ash cloud over Northern Europe. Meanwhile the low-cost carrier Ryanair today inaugurated its Malta base from where it will service an additional 6 routes.
The primary market offering of the three new Malta Government Stocks closes tomorrow evening for those investors wishing to apply for a maximum of €100,000 (nominal). Meanwhile the tendering process for subscriptions in excess of €100,000 closes of Friday 21 May.
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