The Malta Stock Exchange index declined by a further 1.55 per cent, to close at 4,497.349 points.
Turnover amounted to €2.25 million spread across 16 equities of which nine fell, six gained ground and one that closed unchanged.
HSBC Bank Malta plc shares edged 0.6 per cent higher as seven transactions of 11,442 shares were struck, to close at €1.59.
Conversely, Bank of Valletta plc shares slipped by 0.9 per cent across 48 transactions of 142,803 shares, closing at €2.21.
FIMBank plc shares extended their recent winning streak, having advanced by one per cent across 22 trades of 468,025 shares, closing at a fresh seven-year high of $0.98.
On Tuesday, the company announced that the board of directors will meet on August 9, to approve the consolidated financial statements for the half-year ended June 30, 2016 and to consider the payment of an interim dividend.
Lombard Bank Malta plc shares traded unchanged at €2.20 on six trades of 48,132 shares.
Malta International Airport plc shares touched a weekly high of €4.24 on Tuesday to then drop to €4.15, at which price it closed the week, thus registering a 2.4 per cent decline. The local airport operator’s shares were active on 10 trades of 7,093 shares.
On Wednesday, MIA released its traffic results for the six months ending June 30. The company reported an increase of 9.8 per cent in passenger movements when compared to the first half of 2015, recorded in both peak and shoulder months. The increase in passenger movements in the month of June was attributed to an increase in seat capacity and airlines’ efficiency in filling up the available seats. The leading market remains the UK, followed by Italy and Germany. However, the Turkish and Swiss markets have recorded the largest growth, due to more frequent flights from MIA.
Alan Borg, CEO, announced an upward revision of the original forecasted passenger movements for the year to a total of 4.97 million for 2016.
Furthermore, after close of trading yesterday, MIA announced that the board of directors is scheduled to meet on August 17 to approve the company’s interim financial statements for the six months ended June 30 and to consider the payment of an interim dividend.
In the IT sector, 6PM Holdings plc shares stumbled by £0.05 or 5.3 per cent across two trades of 4,298 shares, closing at £0.90.
On a similar note, RS2 Software plc shares decreased by 0.9 per cent over the highest turnover for the week of 28 deals of 542,846 shares, to close at €2.129.
Meanwhile, Loqus Holdings plc shares appreciated by 3.1 per cent as 7,461 shares changed ownership over a single transaction, closing at €0.135.
Elsewhere, the share price of Mapfre Middlesea plc plunged by 16.3 per cent to €2.01 on a single deal of 1,000 shares.
A negative performance was also witnessed in International Hotel Investments plc as seven deals of 13,515 shares dragged its share price 2.7 per cent lower to €0.68.
Another significant drop was noted in the share price of MaltaPost plc having closed at its weekly high of €1.90 after touching a low of €1.80 intra-week. The equity was active over five deals of 54,221 shares.
In the property sector, the share price of MIDI plc dropped by 2.63 per cent to €0.37 as 20,100 shares changed hands.
Meanwhile, a single deal of 15,000 shares in Malita Investments plc executed at €0.88, led to a 1.1 per cent decline.
The only gainer in this sector was Malta Properties Company plc managing a modest 0.2 per cent gain to end the week at €0.508 on five deals of 33,970 shares.
On a positive note, Medserv plc shares gained 1.1 per cent to close at €1.84 as 8,926 shares were traded. During the week, the company announced that the board of directors is scheduled to meet on August 26 to approve the unaudited half-yearly report of the company for the six months ended June 30, 2016.
Meanwhile, GO plc shares edged 0.35 per cent higher, closing at €2.86 on a turnover worth €30,000.
In the corporate bonds market, turnover dropped from €1.6 million to €766,000 spread across 35 issues – 16 issues registered a decline, seven gained ground and 12 closed unchanged.
In the sovereign debt market, a total of 23 stocks were traded as turnover soared from €7.3 million to €13.3 million. A negative trend was noted as 20 issues declined, only two closed higher and one closed flat. The most active issue was the 4.1% MGS 2034 (I) with a turnover of €4.8 million closing at €133.58.
This article, which was compiled by 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 is 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 Financial Advisors Limited at 67, Level 3, South Street, Valletta, or on Tel: 2122 4410, or e-mail info@jesmondmizzi.com.