The Malta Stock Exchange (MSE) index registered its strongest weekly gain so far this year, to close the week at a four-week high of 3,357.495 points – a 1.88 per cent increase over the previous week.
Banks provided support to the broader index, with shares of Bank of Valletta plc (BOV) heading the list of gainers, followed by Lombard Bank Malta plc and HSBC Bank Malta plc.
Moreover, shares of Malta International Airport plc (MIA) were lifted higher on positive traffic results for August, while RS2 Software plc ended the week at its all-time high.
Activity in the equity market was spread across 17 issues, of which eight closed in the black, two lost ground, while seven closed unchanged.
Total turnover shrank by 30 per cent, to €829,000.
In the banking sector, buying interest in BOV shares led to a 4.9 per cent jump in their price, to end the week at a 19-week high of €2.26, €0.05 shy from their weekly high. The banking equity was negotiated in 43 deals of 109,779 shares, accounting for 29 per cent of total turnover.
HSBC shares were mostly flat throughout the week, but then posted a two per cent gain after a single deal of just 2,000 shares – to reach a five-week high closing price of €2.04.
Total trading volume stood at 13 deals of 30,181 HSBC shares.
Meanwhile, trading in Lombard shares pushed the equity’s price up by 2.6 per cent, after four transactions of 11,313 shares.
In the same line of business, both Fimbank plc and Middlesea Insurance plc closed unchanged at the $0.655 and €0.93 respectively.
In the IT sector, RS2 was the week’s sole mover, as both Crimsonwing plc and 6PM Holdings plc shares closed unchanged on thin volumes.
Investors seem to have continued to digest RS2’s recent interim report, as five deals of 5,104 shares helped the IT equity to settle at its record high of €2.79.
Simonds Farsons Cisk plc (SFC) marginally edged 0.4 per cent higher, following the previous week’s 5.6 per cent decline, after one deal of a mere 394 shares.
Telecommunications company Go plc reported that further to its announcement of March 28, the company has obtained regulatory approval from the Competition Authority in Cyprus to proceed with the implementation of the share purchase agreement to buy from C.N. Shiacolas Group of Companies 25 per cent of the issued share capital of Cablenet Communications Systems Ltd. The agreement has been signed and executed in Cyprus.
In the share purchase agreement Go also agreed to provide Cablenet a loan of €12 million convertible into equity at the option of Go so that upon such conversion Go would hold 45 per cent of Cablenet’s share capital. The agreement also grants Go an option to acquire majority control in Cablenet in future.
Go shares inched 0.04 per cent higher, as 41,069 shares changed hands in 10 deals.
Last Friday, MIA announced its traffic results for August. The report showed an 8.6 per cent increase in passengers over the same month last year, which makes it the busiest month in history. MIA has hosted over 2.9 million passengers on a year-to-date basis.
Following the results, two deals of 2,300 shares were struck, locking in a 2.2 per cent gain.
The week’s last gainer was Malita Investments plc, whose shares retouched their all-time high of €0.56 after experiencing the third highest turnover for the week, worth €115,000.
The only two equities that lost value last week were from the property management sector, as shares of Plaza Centres plc and Tigné Mall plc shed 1.7 and 1.9 per cent respectively.
The latter completely reversed the previous week’s gain, as six deals worth €131,000 were negotiated. On the other hand, Plaza Centres shares were dragged down following one deal of 160,000 shares.
The week’s other non-movers were International Hotel Investments plc, Global Capital plc and oil and gas logistics services company Medserv plc. The latter witnessed two deals of 20,000 shares, while there was minimal turnover in the other two companies.
In the corporate bond market, turnover more than doubled to €1.9 million, spread over a total of 24 issues, of which 10 rose in value, five contracted, while nine closed unchanged.
The 7.5 per cent MIH plc euro 2015 and the 7.15 per cent MIH plc euro 2015-2017 were the top performing issues, having rebounded by 2.2 and five per cent respectively.
Meanwhile, heading in the opposite direction were issues of International Hotel Investments plc, with a 2.1 per cent fall being recorded in its 5.8 per cent bond due in 2021, and a 1.8 per cent decline in the 5.8 per cent bond maturing in 2023.
In the sovereign debt market, long-dated issues rose as short-term stocks marginally slipped. Turnover shrank by 51 per cent to €7.88 million, of which half was traded in the 4.1 per cent MGS 2034 (I) r issue, closing the week up by 0.7 per cent, to yield just below 3.7 per cent.
This reflects the economic stimulus taken by the European Central Bank last week, as it cut its benchmark interest rates to a record low of 0.05 per cent.
As a result, the euro continued to trend lower against most of its peers, with the biggest decline recorded against the US dollar and the Australian dollar, which fell by 1.8 and 2.1 per cent respectively.
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.