The MSE Share Index remained practically unchanged today at 3,522.120 points. Although 6 equities traded only GO plc was the only mover with a slight decline to €1.899 as all other equities maintained their previous levels. While only 5,200 shares traded in GO today, activity in the shares of the Greek company Forthnet SA increased markedly in recent days with the share price sliding to an all-time low of €0.37 on the Athens Stock Exchange this morning. Forthnet’s share price has tumbled by 28.8% since the announcement of the Q3 results last Monday 15 November.
High volumes of shares traded in International Hotel Investments plc and FIMBank plc. IHI continues to hold on to the €0.77 level with a further 50,000 shares changing hands at this level today. 50,000 shares were also traded in FIMBank plc today at the US$0.94 level. Early last week FIMBank issued its Interim Directors’ Statement explaining that the Group’s performance for the second half of 2010 continued to show the positive trend experienced during the first half when profits after tax increased by 16.4% to US$3.39 million.
The equities of the two large banks closed today’s session unchanged. Bank of Valletta plc remains well supported at the €3.70 level with a further 13,786 shares changing hands today. Over the past four weeks, BOV’s equity has climbed by 14.2%. Low trading activity is taking place in HSBC Bank Malta plc. The equity closed at the €2.98 level across seven trades totalling over 6,000 shares.
In contrast to the high volumes registered in IHI and FIMBank, no trades were recorded in Malta International Airport plc, RS2 Software plc, 6pm Holdings plc, Grand Harbour Marina plc and GlobalCapital plc who issued their respective Interim Directors’ Statements last week. Details on each announcement are available from our website.
On the bond market activity was also weak as investors await the listing of the two new Malta Government Stock issues. Meanwhile bid prices quoted by the Central Bank of Malta Stockbroker continued to decline today.
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