The Treasury announced that two new Malta Government Stock (MGS) issues will be offered to the public with coupons of two per cent and 4.1 per cent, maturing in 2020 and 2034 respectively. A total of €100 million worth of stock will be issued, subject to an over-allotment option of an additional €80 million. The offer price will be announced on Thursday. Applications open on July 28 and close on July 30 or earlier, at the discretion of the Accountant General.
Following the previous week’s multi-month low, the Malta Stock Exchange (MSE) index bounced back by 1.24 per cent, as a result of gains in most traded securities. In fact, Bank of Valletta plc (BOV) was the only equity to register a loss – as opposed to its peer, HSBC Bank Malta plc. The gains registered by HSBC and Go plc substantially enhanced the index’s positive performance as the MSE closed the week at a two-week high of 3,343.592 points.
Out of the 12 traded equities, eight rose in value, one retreated, while three closed unchanged. Turnover contracted by one-third to €780,000, with most activity taking place in BOV and Go shares.
HSBC’s share price rallied by 4.5 per cent to a five-week high of €2.10 – primarily as a result of three deals of 4,594 shares in last Friday’s session. Over the week, a total of 39,496 shares changed hands in 24 deals.
At the beginning of August the bank is expected to publish its interim results for the period ending June 30.
Meanwhile, BOV shares partially reversed the previous week’s two per cent gain, as 59 deals worth €316,000 pulled the equity’s price down by one per cent.
Fimbank plc announced that the intermediaries’ offer in relation to the lapsed rights at $0.65 closed on Tuesday, with bids that amounted to $167,000. In aggregate, the company’s issued share capital will now increase by over 74 million shares, or 37.5 per cent – just below the 77,009,494 shares originally authorised by the listing authority. No trading took place in Fimbank shares during the week.
Last Thursday, Middlesea Insurance plc announced that its board of directors had approved the unaudited financial statements of the group for the half-year ended June 30. The group registered a pre-tax profit of €8.2 million, compared to €6.4 million for the six months ended June 30, 2013. Total income from insurance activities for the period under review amounted to €6.02 million, a rise of 22 per cent from 2013. Earnings per share increased to €0.034. The company’s share price initially dipped by 1.1 per cent on Monday but completely recouped the loss after the results were announced on thin volume as four deals of 3,530 shares were struck.
Go plc continued to trend higher, as its share price settled at a record 53-month high following another positive announcement by Forthnet SA, in which Go has an indirect stake through Forgendo Ltd, its joint venture company with Emirates International Telecommunications (Malta) Ltd. Forthnet announced that Vodafone Group Services Ltd and Wind Hellas Telecommunications SA had submitted a joint non-binding indicative proposal for the possible acquisition of all Forthnet shares they do not own. The indicative and conditional price is in the range of €1.70 to €1.90 per share.
Moreover, with regard to the non-binding proposal made by OTE SA for the acquisition of Nova, Forthnet’s pay-TV business, Go said that no significant developments had taken place following the original announcement of July 1.
By Friday’s closing session, Go shares settled at €2.30, as 67,757 shares were negotiated in 23 deals.
Crimsonwing plc was the only equity in the IT industry to experience price movement last week, as its share price rose 1.2 per cent after one transaction of a mere 500 shares. This followed the announcement of the company’s annual results for the period ended June 30, which were published last Thursday.
The group registered a pre-tax profit of €1.43 million, compared to €981,000 in 2013. Revenue for the period under review amounted to €20.09 million, a 13 per cent rise from 2013. Earnings per share increased to €0.0486.
Meanwhile, RS2 Software plc was active throughout the week on a turnover value worth €66,000, with all deals being struck at €2.5, thus closing the week unchanged.
Malta International Airport plc (MIA) closed the week two cents shy of its all-time high of €2.32, as 17,352 shares were traded in 11 deals.
Malita Investments plc retouched its all-time high of €0.56, as two deals of 26,500 shares lifted the equity’s price by 1.8 per cent.
Similarly, Medserv plc shares closed at an eight-week high of €1.30, as seven deals of 62,403 shares led to a 2.4 per cent increase.
Two other gainers for the week were Plaza Centres plc and Santumas Shareholdings plc, whose shares rallied by 7.1 and 7.6 per cent, respectively. The former rose to a three-month high on three deals worth €15,000, while there was one deal of just 102 shares in the closed-ended collective investment scheme.
Another non-mover was Simonds Farsons Cisk plc which was traded in four deals of 3,866 shares.
In the corporate bond market, total turnover stood at €768,000 – a 33 per cent decline on a week-on-week basis – spread over 26 issues. The 7.15 per cent Mediterranean Investment Holdings plc euro 2015-2017 issue headed the list of fallers, with a 1.8 per cent decline to €99.96. On the other hand, the 6.5 per cent Island Hotels Group Holdings plc euro 2017-2019 locked-in a 1.5 per cent gain, to settle at €103.55.
Similarly, 26 issues were also negotiated in the sovereign debt market, of which most of the losses were in short-dated securities, whereas most of the long-dated issues edged higher – in line with yields across the European region, which have seen yields depressing further across the entire 30-year spectrum. The most liquid issue was the 4.3 per cent MGS 2033 (I) r, which accounted for 42 per cent of the total turnover of €33.37 million.
This article, which was compiled by Jesmond Mizzi, managing director of Jesmond Mizzi Financial Advisors Ltd, does not intend to give investment advice and the contents therein should not be construed as such. The company is licensed to conduct investment services by the MFSA and a member of the Malta Stock Exchange and a member of the Atlas Group. The directors or related parties, including the company, and their clients are likely to have an interest in securities mentioned in this article. For further information contact Jesmond Mizzi at 67, Level 3, South Street, Valletta, or on Tel: 2122 4410 or e-mail jesmond.mizzi@jesmondmizzi.com.