The Malta Stock Exchange (MSE) index ended the week down by a further 0.57 per cent, to close at 3,727.85 points. This follows declines in the shares of Bank of Valletta plc (BOV), International Hotel Investments plc (IHI), and to a lesser extent, Malta International Airport plc (MIA).
Trading in the opposite direction were shares of Middlesea Insurance plc (MSI), Simonds Farsons Cisk plc (SFC), Medserv plc and RS2 Software plc – all of which ended the week at multi-period high closing prices.
Activity during the week was spread over 14 issues, of which gainers and losers tallied at five, while four closed unchanged. Total turnover decreased by 25 per cent, to €1.55 million, with MIA and BOV accounting for half of this amount.
BOV ended the week just above its intra-week low of €2.21 after 171,085 shares were traded in 51 deals. Last Thursday, the bank announced that its board of directors is due to meet on Thursday to consider and approve the group’s interim financial results for the six months ended March 31, 2015, and to decide whether to declare an interim dividend.
HSBC shares recovered marginally after a 0.4 per cent decline the previous week. The banking equity’s price inched 0.1 per cent higher as 97,514 shares changed hands in 30 transactions, with an intra-week low of €2 and a high of €2.04.
Once again, there was no change in price of Lombard Bank Malta plc shares after a relatively low volume of trading, worth €26,400.
Shares of Middlesea Insurance plc strengthened by 1.7 per cent to close at a five-and-a-half year high of €1.22. The company held its annual general meeting last Friday, during which, inter alia, the company name was changed to Mapre Middlesea plc.
In the IT services sector, RS2 was the week’s only mover. Its shares gained 0.5 per cent in value to close at a record high closing price of €3.075. The tech company’s share price reached a record high of €3.085 in intra-day trading.
Last Tuesday, RS2 announced its financial results for the year ended December 31, 2014. The group registered a pre-tax profit of €4.19 million, compared to €4.26 million in 2013. Revenue for the period under review amounted to €15.24 million, a rise of 7.86 per cent from 2013. Earnings per share (EPS) fell to €0.064. The board of directors have resolved to recommend a payment of a final dividend of €0.044 per share – payable, if approved, to registered shareholders as on May 8. Last week RS2 shares were traded in 12 deals worth €115,100.
In the same line of business, 6PM Holdings plc ended the week unchanged at £0.76 after a single deal of 5,000 shares.
Two other equities to close at record high closing prices were SFC and Medserv plc, ending the week at €3.35 and €2.05 respectively, thereby registering week-on-week gains of 2.45 per cent and 2.5 per cent respectively, as both traded on a relatively thin volume. On Wednesday SFC is expected to announce its full-year results for the year ended January 31, 2015.
Plaza Centres plc headed the list of fallers after turning ex-dividend. Five deals of 203,928 shares dragged the equity’s share price down 3.1 per cent, to close the week at €0.945. Investors who held the security up to April 24 will receive a net dividend of €0.0268 per share on June 2.
IHI shares posted a significant 2.8 per cent loss after 10 transactions of 92,142 shares.
The week’s two other fallers were MIA and Go plc, whose shares contracted by 0.9 and 0.4 per cent respectively. The telecommunications company extended its recent decline after 12 deals of 22,650 shares, whereas MIA’s drop in value came after the week’s highest turnover, worth €391,700.
The week’s other non-movers were Maltapost plc and Midi plc. The latter was active in a total trading volume worth €54,500 as investors await the company’s year-end results tomorrow, whereas three deals of 2,000 shares were executed in the postal services company.
GlobalCapital plc reported that while its business and operations are separate and distinct from those of BAI Co, (Mtius) Ltd, the decision of the authorities in Mauritius to appoint conservators to BAI, which owns 48.45 per cent of the Global Capital’s issued share capital, has created uncertainty on the effect that BAI’s position will have on the company’s operations.
Global Capital subsequently announced that EIP plc, a public limited liability company incorporated in Malta, has made a conditional offer to BAI to acquire all the shares that it holds in Global Capital, which constitutes a ‘substantial shareholding’ in terms of the MFSA’s listing rules. This conditional offer is subject to conditions that are typical in these types of transactions, such as the signing of a binding share purchase agreement, a full due diligence process and all necessary regulatory approvals.
In the corporate bond market, 22 of the 31 traded issues closed in positive territory, one closed minimally lower and eight closed unchanged. Total turnover shrank by 6.5 per cent, from €832,600 to €778,600, with strong gains in the 6.6 per cent Eden Finance plc 2017-2020 and the six per cent Island Hotels Group Holdings plc € 2024 issues – up by 1.4 and 1.9 per cent, respectively.
On the other hand, the bulk of the issues in the sovereign debt market fell out of favour, with a total turnover of €11.58 million, which is in line with that registered the previous week. Of the 27 traded stocks, 19 lost ground, while eight inched higher.
The biggest drop in price was in the long-dated three per cent MGS 2040 (I) issue, which closed the week down by 1.2 per cent after the week’s highest turnover – accounting for 23.6 per cent of total trading value.
Higher yields were also recorded in longer-dated European sovereign-debt issues, albeit still close to record low levels.
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.