After reaching a new four-year high on Wednesday, the equity market returned to action today with the share index closing 0.6 per cent lower at 3,762.866 points after a volatile session.
Bank of Valletta failed to hold on to its seven-year high of €2.50 as the equity closed two per cent lower at €2.45 on high activity amounting to 105,228 shares. BOV remains among the top performers this week with an appreciation of 7.7 per cent.
Elsewhere in the banking sector, the share price of HSBC initially traded up to a high of €2.05 despite trading ex-dividend. The equity closed the day at €2 representing a 1.5 per cent drop from last Wednesday but a 1.5 per cent gain from last week’s close. Lombard Bank also traded ex-dividend but the equity gained 2.1 per cent to €1.91.
The best performer was once again MIDI with a rise of a further 5.7 per cent to 28c on weaker volumes totalling 16,800 shares. The share price of Midi jumped by 21.7 per cent this week following last Friday’s announcement that the company is still in talks with potential strategic investors in connection with the development of Manoel Island.
Three other equities performed positively today. Malta International Airport edged up 1.1 per cent to a fresh all-time high of €3.31,1 across seven deals for a total of 23,797 shares. The shares of the airport operator continue to trade with the entitlement to the final net dividend of 8c per share until April 16.
A single deal of 30,000 shares in Plaza Centres was executed at a new all-time high of 92c representing an increase of 3.4 per cent following the announcement of last Wednesday revealing a 19 per cent increase in pre-tax profits and a 12.6 per cent increase in dividends. The net dividend of 2c68 per share is payable to shareholders as at close of trading on April 23.
Middlesea Insurance added 3.1 per cent to €1.16 albeit on shallow volumes of 1,500 shares.
Apart from BOV and HSBC, the only other negative performers were GO and Malita Investments. GO declined one per cent to €2.90 on volumes of 14,100 shares.
The equity had traded up to an intra-day high of €2.93. Yesterday evening, a Greek online portal reported that Vodafone and Wind, who already control 40 per cent of Forthnet, are still interested in acquiring the remaining 60 per cent of Forthnet although they may be now looking at offering a share swap rather than a cash transaction.
Last summer, Vodafone and Wind made a non-binding cash offer ranging between €1.70 and €1.90 per Forthnet share pending a due diligence exercise which has reportedly been completed.
Malita shed 2.2 per cent to 92c9 on activity of 5,000 shares as the equity started trading ex-dividend. Shareholders will be asked to approve the gross dividend of 2c1 per share during the upcoming annual general meeting scheduled for April 22.
MaltaPost and RS2 Software closed unchanged at €1.40,8 and €2.96 respectively on low volumes.
On the bond market, the Rizzo Farrugia MGS Index edged up to a new high of 1,146.203 points as Eurozone benchmark yields retreated to a fresh all-time low of 0.19 per cent.
Late on Wednesday afternoon, the Treasury issued a press release confirming the allotment policy of the three per cent MGS 2040 (I). Applications up to €10,000 (nom) were accepted in full while applications in excess of €10,000 (nom) received the first €10,000 (nom) per application plus an additional 12 per cent of the remaining balance, rounded to the nearest €100. The refunds of unallocated monies are being processed today. Trading on the secondary market in the three per cent MGS 2040 (I) is expected to commence early next week.
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