The Malta Stock Exchange (MSE) index last week failed to sustain a 13-month high of 3,790.548 points reached on Monday, primarily as a result of losses in shares of Bank of Valletta plc (BOV), International Hotel Investments plc (IHI), Go plc, and Middlesea Insurance plc (MSI), which in aggregate account for almost half of the index’s overall value.
Acting as a counterbalance to the index’s negative stance were HSBC Bank Malta plc, Malta International Airport plc (MIA), Fimbank plc, Medserv plc, and Malita Investments plc, which account for just over a third of the index’s total value. The index halted a three-week winning streak to close the week down by 0.14 per cent to 3,757.623 points.
Total trading value increased by 19.5 per cent to €2.35 million, of which 61 per cent involved shares of BOV, Go plc and MIA. Activity was spread over a total of 18 securities, whereby 11 rose, four fell and three closed unchanged.
Shares of BOV were active in the week’s highest turnover, worth €582,000, with deals being executed between €2.32 and €2.449. The banking equity’s share price registered a week-on-week fall of 4.1 per cent to close at €2.35.
HSBC shares closed at a seven-week high of €2.05 after 30 deals of 77,306 shares pushed their price up by 2.5 per cent, marking the equity’s fifth consecutive weekly gain.
Fimbank plc shares strongly rebounded from their record low closing price of $0.43, after 12 transactions of 40,602 shares led to a weekly gain of 9.3 per cent.
Meanwhile, seven deals worth €25,400 left Lombard Bank Malta plc share price intact at €1.91.
Middlesea Insurance plc shares retreated from their 56-month high of €1.16, closing the week 1.7 per cent in the red at €1.14, albeit on relatively thin volume.
Go plc fell by a further 1.6 per cent over a turnover of €442,500, and IHI’s share price dropped 2.8 per cent after thin trading volume of just 1,436 shares.
Last Monday, MIA shares closed the session at a record high closing price of €3.5, but lost some of these gains by the end of the week. The equity was traded in the week’s third highest turnover worth €409,000, and closed up by 4.2 per cent at €2.45.
Investors continued to show buying interest in Plaza Centres plc shares, following the company’s recently announced year-end financial results, closing the week at a fresh three-year high of €0.95 after seven deals worth €109,000.
Tigné Mall plc shares closed the week at yet another record high of €0.752 – a weekly gain of 6.7 per cent – after eight deals of 105,000 shares, as investors await the company’s full-year results in a few weeks’ time.
6PM Holdings plc shares soared by 7.7 per cent after five deals of 30,000 shares to close at a two-month high of £0.70, and RS2 Software plc shares edged 0.3 per cent higher over a total trading value of €151,200.
Double-digit gains of 15.2 and 15.7 per cent were recorded in shares of Medserv plc and Loqus Holdings plc respectively. The latter was negotiated in a single deal of just 9,938 shares.
On the other hand, Medserv plc shares closed at a record price of €1.90 after a total turnover of €235,900. This follows the announcement of the company’s financial year-end results for the year ended December 31, 2014. Revenue for the period under review increased from €6.9 million to €32.38 million. Pre-tax profit stood at €3.04 million, as opposed to €132,000 the previous year. Moreover, the company’s board of directors is proposing a net dividend payment of €0.056 per share, payable to registered shareholders as at May 28.
The week’s other gainers were Maltapost plc and Malita Investments plc, whose shares inched 0.2 and 0.1 per cent higher. The postal services company more than reversed the previous week’s decline, to close at an all-time high of €1.411, as 7,748 shares changed hands in five deals. Meanwhile, the special purpose vehicle was traded in 11 deals of 67,375 shares.
Two other equities that were active but did not register any price movement were Island Hotels Group Holdings plc and Midi plc.
In the corporate bond market, total trading value soared by 65 per cent to €1.17 million, as 21 bonds were traded, of which two-thirds rose in value, two lost ground and five closed unchanged. The strongest advances were in the 4.8 per cent Bank of Valletta plc notes 2018, and six per cent Pendergardens Developments plc secured € 2022 issues, which locked in gains of 2.8 per cent. The former bond closed at €108 while the latter traded at €110.
In the sovereign debt market, a 16-fold increase in total turnover was registered compared to the previous week’s €3.02 million. All but five of the 24 traded stocks ended the week in positive territory, with the largest jump in price witnessed in the recently listed three per cent MGS 2040 issue. The stock’s price soared to €116 on its first day of trading, touched an intra-week high of €118, but then settled marginally lower at €116.05, corresponding to a yield-to-maturity of 2.17 per cent.
On the contrary, European yields ticked slightly higher as last week’s meeting between Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel fuelled markets with scepticism on how Greece’s needed structural reforms will be dealt with. Although both leaders agreed that reforms are needed, it remained unclear whether they had the same reforms in mind. Further bailout money to Greece will only be unlocked by its European creditors if Greece convinces them that it is serious about reform, and all this in a race against time.
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 1/2, St Joseph High Street, Ħamrun, or on Tel. 2122 4410 or e-mail jesmond.mizzi@jesmondmizzi.com.