The equity of MaltaPost plc quickly recovered from yesterday’s one per cent drop as it rose two per cent during this morning’s session to reach a new all-time high of €1.02.

The few shares on offer at the €1.02 level (amounting to just under 9,000 shares) were snapped up this morning with further bids unsatisfied at the closing price and lowest offers now available at the €1.05 level.

Following yesterday’s annual general meeting, the postal operator is expected to settle the final net dividend of €0.04 per share (either in cash or in shares) on February 11.

Meanwhile Malta International Airport plc retreated by 1.6 per cent from its multi-year high of €1.83 as a deal of 1,000 shares was transacted at the €1.80 level.

Despite today’s downturn, the share price of MIA is still 8.4 per cent higher than its value at the beginning of the year.

The airport operator recently revealed that in 2011 it expects to maintain the record number of passengers (3.29 million) registered during the past 12 months.

Investors now await the publication of the company’s 2010 financial results which are generally published by mid-March.

The share price of the three local retail banks all closed unchanged today as this morning’s trading session was characterised by low volumes with the exception of Bank of Valletta plc.

BOV’s equity recouped from an intra-day low of €3.10 to close at the €3.11 level across high volumes amounting to 36,481 shares.

The bank is shortly expected to publish its interim directors’ statement providing the market with an update of the group’s financial performance since the start of their new financial year on October 1.

HSBC Bank Malta plc also closed unchanged at the €3.50 level ahead of the bank’s 2010 full-year results publication in the coming weeks while Lombard Bank Malta plc, scheduled to report its 2010 figures on March 10, held on to last week’s strong gains as a further 9,500 shares traded at the €2.96 level.

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