The share price of Lombard Bank Malta plc was well supported at the 52-week high of €3.06 reached yesterday.
The equity initially eased to €3.04,5 this morning but recovered to close the day unchanged on €3.06 on high activity amounting to almost 65,500 shares.
Bids of a further 28,500 shares remain unsatisfied at this level with lowest offers now placed at €3.08.
Lombard shares are still trading with the entitlement to the full-year dividend of €0.11,5 gross per share.
This will be payable to those shareholders as at close of trading tomorrow.
HSBC Bank Malta plc also closed the day unchanged at the €2.90 level after failing to hold on to an intra-day high of €2.91.
Volumes remained weak with only 4,600 shares changing hands today.
Meanwhile, Bank of Valletta plc dropped by 1.7 per cent during the final stages of today’s session to the €2.90 level across nine trades totalling 13,386 shares.
Similarly, Malta International Airport plc shed 1.7 per cent to drop back to the €1.73 level on a single trade of 2,700 shares.
Recently the airport operator revealed a 20.9 per cent increase in net profit to €10.69 million on the back of a 12.9 per cent increase in passenger numbers to a record 3.29 million passenger movements. A copy of the presentation given to stockbrokers by MIA can be found in the download section of our website.
Low-cost carrier Ryanair today stated that meetings are currently being held with the Malta Tourism Authority to discuss further growth opportunities.
Ryanair is reportedly hoping to establish 17 new routes in the coming years as it intends to base a second aircraft in Malta. Latvia and Lithuania are two of the markets being targeted by the low-cost carrier.
GO plc shares retreated by 0.7 per cent today on lack of support for the equity following last week’s unexpected 50 per cent cut in dividends to €0.05 net per share.
The equity closed at a new 16-month low of €1.65 with no further bids in sight. The group recently announced its 2010 financial results.
FIMBank plc maintained the US$0.90 level across three trades totalling 31,650 shares. The equity is still trading with the entitlement to the final gross dividend of US$0.03,8 per share. This will be payable to those shareholders as at close of trading on March 25.
On the bond market, the Rizzo Farrugia MGS Index edged 0.14 per cent higher to 976.994 points on a slight decline in Eurozone yields.
High trading activity took place in the 19-year paper as €518,100 (nom) of the 5.25 per cent MGS 2030 changed hands with the price dropping 20 basis points to 102.30 per cent.
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http://rizzofarrugia.com/news-events/2011/full-year-results-go09/