The MSE Share Index this morning extended yesterday’s gains by a further 0.28% to 4,562.053 points as the gains registered in three equities outweighed the declines in another three shares. Trading activity advanced to just over €331,000 largely on healthy turnover in the equity of RS2.
For the third consecutive trading session, FIMBank plc featured as the best performing equity as it leapt forward by a further 5.6% to a six-year high of USD0.845 level across 82,270 shares. Yesterday, the trade finance specialist held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) during which top executives remarked that the Bank continued to register positive results during the first four months of the year.
A single deal of 16,700 shares lifted the equity of HSBC Bank Malta plc back to the €1.60 level (+0.3%) across 16,700 shares.
RS2 Software plc closed minimally higher at the €3.791 level across 42,582 shares having a market value of €161,000 – representing nearly half of the total value of equities traded today. RS2 shareholders as at close of trading on 19 May will be eligible to receive the recently recommended final net dividend of €0.0278 per share (payable on 30 June) subject to approval at the upcoming AGM to be held on 23 June. The Directors are also recommending a bonus share issue of 1 new share for every 18 shares held (cut-off date: 19 May) and a 5 for 3 share split (cut-off date: 30 June).
Also among the large companies, GO plc (5,486 shares) and International Hotel Investments (5,068 shares) traded unchanged at €3.60 and €0.62 respectively. Eligible shareholders of GO will receive the payment of the recently approved final net dividend of €0.10 per share tomorrow.
In contrast, Malta International Airport plc lost 0.2% to the €4.35 level across just 1,400 shares.
Likewise, Bank of Valletta plc opened at an intra-day low of €2.22 (-1.3%) to finish only slightly lower at the €2.248 level (-0.1%) across 18,798 shares. The net interim dividend of €0.0254 per share will be paid on 27 May.
Malta Properties Company plc retreated by a further 1.8% to its lowest level in over three months of €0.542 across 22,921 shares. On Tuesday, MPC issued an announcement saying that, throughout the last few months, revenue streams have remained stable and in line with expectations. Furthermore, the Company is continuing to embark on its strategy of redeveloping a number of its properties.
On the bond market, the RF MGS Index advanced 0.11% to 1,148.058 points – the highest level in nearly three-weeks. Euro zone bond yields were on a downward trend this morning following gloomy data showing that industrial output in the single currency block contracted by 0.8% in March – far worse than expected by economists. Indeed, the 10-year benchmark German Bund yield fell from the 0.11% of yesterday to a four-week low of 0.10% today before rebounding strongly to a high of 0.16% early in the afternoon.