The share index advanced by 0.13 per cent to 4,483.564 points as the gains in share prices of BOV and GO outweighed the plunge in MPC. Trading activity was restricted to merely five shares, reflecting in reduced volumes worth just €152,500.
Bank of Valletta recovered all the losses of the past two trading sessions as it recaptured the €2.24 (+0.9 per cent) across 16,319 shares. This morning, BOV issued an announcement in relation to certain recent media reports whereby it reiterated its commitment towards having the appropriate anti-money laundering processes in place.
GO managed to rebound from an intra-day low of €2.77 (-4 per cent) to close 0.5 per cent higher at the €2.90 level across shallow volumes totalling 1,800 shares.
On Monday, GO stated that La Société Nationale des Télécommunications (“Tunisie Telecom”) were chosen as the final preferred bidder for acquiring the entire company.
Tunisie Telecom will be submitting a voluntary bid for the entire issued share capital of GO at a price of €2.87 per share. GO shareholders will now receive an offer document from Tunisie Telecom containing all the details of the voluntary bid in the coming weeks.
Consequently, GO also confirmed that the voluntary bid will be subject to a minimum acceptance threshold of 60 per cent of the shares and that Emirates International Telecommunications (Malta) Limited, which owns a 60 per cent stake, has, subject to certain conditions, irrevocably undertaken to accept the voluntary bid.
In contrast, Malta Properties Company closed at its lowest level this year as the equity dropped by 7.3 per cent to the 51c level across 15,000 shares. MPC will be holding its annual general meeting on June 2.
Within the same segment, Tigne’ Mall plc maintained the €1.06 level across heightened activity totalling 80,000 shares. Shareholders as at June 22 will be eligible to receive a final net dividend of 1c25 per share.
This is payable on July 12 subject to shareholders’ approval at the upcoming AGM scheduled to be held on June 24.
Likewise, HSBC closed flat at the €1.62 level across 11,558 shares. The bank directors will be meeting on August 5 to consider and approve the interim financial statements for the half-year ending June 30 as well as consider the declaration of an interim dividend.
On the bond market, the RF MGS Index extended yesterday’s gains by a further 0.15 per cent to a fresh five-week high of 1,151.510 points.
Euro zone bond yields trended lower today with the 10-year benchmark German Bund yield slipping from 0.19 per cent to 0.16 per cent today. The 10-year yields of the Italian and Spanish government papers declined to 1.35 per cent and 1.47 per cent from 1.42 per cent and 1.54 per cent respectively.
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