The share index continued to advance and edged a further 0.5 per cent today to end the week up one per cent at 3,458.637 points. Seven of the eight active equities performed positively .
The share price of Plaza Centres was again the best performer with an increase of a further 7.3 per cent to 85c on volumes of 58,832 shares.
Overall, this equity gained 19.7 per cent this week and ranks as best performer so far in 2015. Plaza’s 2014 year-end financial statements will be published on 18 March.
Similarly, Malita Investments gained another 3.4 per cent to close at a new high of 77c level on low volumes of 5,000 shares. Malita’s financial statements will be published on February 26.
In the financial sector, the two retail banks also performed positively today. HSBC rose by one per cent to regain its €2.02 level across a total of 27,557 shares. On Monday, HSBC will be publishing its 2014 financial statements.
The equity of Bank of Valletta edged up by 0.5 per cent to a 10-month high of €2.11,1 amid shallower volumes of 17,223 shares spread across seven deals.
In its latest interim statement published on February 6, BOV explained that it registered a satisfactory rate of growth across all key business lines, maintained the cautious view towards provisioning and registered moderate positive price changes on its investment portfolio.
Nonetheless, it was experiencing a weak demand for business lending despite an increase in home loan requests, while customer deposits continued to grow notwithstanding the lower interest rates.
Similarly, Middlesea Insurance gained one per cent to €1.01 across shallow volumes of 4,398 shares – the highest level since June 2011.
GO and Malta International Airport both managed a 0.4 per cent gain during today’s session.
The telecoms operator closed at the €2.67 level across six deals for 16,000 shares, while the airport operator climbed to another record level of €2.61 level across four deals for 9,000 shares. MIA is expected to publish its 2014 figures on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, International Hotel Investments closed unchanged at the 63c level on a single deal of 2,544 shares. Earlier today, during an extraordinary general meeting held by Island Hotels Group Holdings, the shareholders of IHG approved a resolution which enables the directors to provide IHI with price-sensitive information that would enable IHI to make a binding offer for the shares in IHG.
On the bond market, the Rizzo Farrugia MGS Index eased marginally lower to 1,126.715 points, reflecting the marginal increase in the Eurozone benchmark yields.
Yesterday, the Treasury established the prices of the two new MGS’s as follows: (i) two per cent MGS 2020 (V) FI at 105.75 per cent for every €100 nominal giving a yield to maturity of 0.937 per cent per annum; (ii) three per cent MGS 2040 (I) at 100 per cent (par) for every €100 nominal giving a yield to maturity of three per cent per annum. The offer period for retail investors closes on Wednesday.