The MSE Share Index finished lower for the third consecutive trading session today as it retreated by 0.19 per cent to 4,520.114 points. Trading activity was restricted to just six shares with four of them registering declines. On the other hand, GO plc closed unchanged at the €2.85 level on 3,700 shares whilst MaltaPost plc rebounded by 5.6 per cent to the €1.90 level on trivial volumes.
Despite revealing upbeat June traffic results and 2016 forecasts yesterday, the equity of Malta International Airport plc eased 2.1 per cent lower to the €4.15 level across 2,190 shares. MIA announced that it is now expecting 4.97 million passengers to pass through the airport this year, up by 5.1 per cent from the previous 2016 forecast of 4.73 million revealed in January 2016. This represents a 7.5 per cent uplift on the record number of 4.62 million passenger movements registered in 2015 and the seventh consecutive year of record performances. In June, the company registered a 6.8 per cent increase in passenger movements when compared to the corresponding period last year, bringing the total increase in passenger movements in the first half of 2016 to +9.8 per cent when compared to the first six months of 2015. Overall, growth was driven by an increase in seat capacity (+7.4 per cent) and seat load factor (up to 80 per cent from 78 per cent in the first half of 2015).
Also among the large companies, RS2 Software plc and Bank of Valletta plc both recorded slight declines today. RS2 managed to rebound from an intra-day low of €2.10 (-1.9 per cent) to finish at the €2.129 level (-0.5 per cent) across 13,042 shares.
Bank of Valletta plc closed minimally lower at the €2.20 level on healthy volumes totalling 58,272 shares.
The other negative performing equity today was MIDI plc as it traded for the first time in the last sixteen sessions and dropped by 2.6 per cent to the €0.37 after touching an intra-day low of €0.35 (-7.9 per cent). A total of 20,100 shares exchanged hands today. Preferred applicants of MIDI (i.e. holders of the 7 per cent MIDI plc 2016/18 (EUR) bonds, 7 per cent MIDI plc 2016/18 (GBP) bonds and shareholders of MIDI plc) have until Monday 18 July to apply for the new €50 million 4.0 per cent secured bonds maturing in 2026. Bondholders of the 7 per cent GBP bonds can transfer their holding into the new 4 per cent EUR bonds at a rate of GBP0.834 per EUR1.
Meanwhile, preferred applicants of International Hotel Investments plc (i.e. shareholders as at the close of trading on 27 June) have until Tuesday 19 July to apply for the new €55 million 4.0 per cent secured bonds maturing in 2026. The general public offer for the same bond issue opens on 20 July and closes on 22 July, or earlier in the case of over-subscription.
On the bond market, the RF MGS Index also finished lower for the third consecutive day as it retreated by 0.01 per cent to 1,157.160 points. Yields of euro zone government bonds were broadly higher today possibly as a result of the Bank of England’s (BoE) decision to leave interest rates unchanged despite the mounting pressures on Britain’s economy following the country’s decision to leave the EU. The BoE also left its asset purchase programme intact but indicated that more monetary stimulus may be warranted in the coming months.