The Malta Stock Exchange (MSE) index retreated by a significant 1.55 per cent, closing at 4,497.349 points, as nine equities closed the week in the red. Last week the MSE’s performance was especially weighed down by falls in the share prices of Bank of Valletta plc (BOV), International Hotel Investments plc (IHI) and Malta International Airport plc (MIA) due their relatively large weighting on the exchange. However, significant upward momentum remains evident in the share value of Fimbank plc, which is the best performing equity so far this year, and in HSBC Bank Malta plc and GO plc shares.

Total turnover stood at €2.25 million – a week-on-week increase of 61 per cent, spread across 16 equities, of which six advanced, nine fell out of favour and one stood unchanged.

Fimbank plc led the gainers in the banking industry, as further buying interest extended the equity to a six-week winning streak. The equity notched an advance of one per cent to close at $0.98, having reached a seven-year high of $1.019, intra-week. The equity was traded in 22 deals of 468,025 shares, which amounted to the second highest turnover, worth €415,000.

Last Tuesday, the company announced that its 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.

The share price of HSBC rose by 0.6 per cent, partially recovering from the previous week’s 1.9 per cent decline. The equity closed the week at €1.59 after it was active in seven deals of 11,442 shares.

Meanwhile, BOV shares were down by 0.9 per cent on the week to close at a share value of €2.21, as a total of 48 deals for 142,803 shares were executed.

There was no movement in the share price of Lombard Bank Malta plc, which traded and closed the week at €2.20, after six deals of 48,132 shares.

IHI shares continued to fall by a further 2.7 per cent to close the week at €0.68 after seven deals of 13,515 shares.

Meanwhile, 10 deals of 7,093 MIA shares lowered its price by 2.4 per cent to €4.15. Last 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 June, was attributed to an increase in seat capacity and airlines’ efficiency in filling 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.  CEO Alan Borg announced an upward revision of the original forecast passenger movements for the year to a total of 4.97 million for 2016.

Furthermore, after close of trading on Friday, MIA announced that the board of directors is due to meet on August 17 to approve the company’s interim financial statements for the six months ended June 30, 2016, and to consider the payment of an interim dividend.

On the other hand, following two weeks of inactivity, Loqus Holdings plc shares moved 3.1 per cent higher on a single deal of 7,461 shares traded at €0.135.

Telecommunications company GO plc pared its previous week’s loss of 0.4 per cent by returning to €2.86, as 11 deals of 10,553 shares were struck.

Medserv plc, the logistics and services company for oil and gas, was also among the list of gainers after adding 1.1 per cent to its previous 1.6 per cent gain, thus ending the week close to a seven-month high of €1.84 as three deals of 8,926 shares were transacted. During the week, the company announced that its board of directors is due to meet on August 26 to approve the company’s unaudited half-yearly report for the six months ended June 30, 2016.

It was a choppy week for Mapfre Middlesea plc with a drop of 16.3 per cent in its share value, to close the week at a 50-week low of €2.01, over a thin volume of 1,000 shares.

In the IT services sector, the share price of 6pm Holdings plc dipped 5.3 per cent lower to £0.90, as 4,298 shares changed hands in two deals. In the same line of business, RS2 Software plc shares eased 0.9 per cent to close the trading week at €2.129. The latter equity experienced a turnover of €1.2 million, thus taking the lion’s share of trading value in the local equity market.

The share value of Maltapost plc dipped to a weekly low of €1.80 but then recovered to €1.90 by end of week. This notwithstanding, the equity closed the week down by 4.5 per cent after five deals of 54,221 shares.

In the property sector, the week’s only gainer was Malta Properties Company plc, which closed 0.2 per cent higher at €0.508 following five transactions of 33,970 shares.

Conversely, Midi plc shares declined by 2.6 per cent to €0.37 – a level last seen in April – as three deals of 20,100 shares were struck, while the share price of Malita Investments plc fell by 1.1 per cent to €0.88 after 15,000 shares were traded.

In the corporate bond market, total trading value fell by more than half to €766,000, as activity was spread across 35 issues, of which seven gained ground, 16 declined and 12 remained unchanged. The 4.25 per cent Bank of Valletta plc € Notes 2019 Series 2 Tranche 1 issue locked a weekly gain of 1.5 per cent to close at €103.50, as two deals of 38,600 nominal were executed, while the 7.15 per cent Mediterranean Investments Holding plc USD 2015-2017 issue dropped by 3.6 per cent to €95, on a single deal of 34,500 nominal.

In the sovereign debt market, 23 issues were active, of which only two traded higher, 20 closed the week lower and one stood unchanged. Total turnover amounted to €13.3 million – of which 71 per cent was traded in long-dated issues, namely the 4.1 per cent MGS 2034 (I), 2.5 per cent MGS 2036 (I) and the three per cent MGS 2040 (I) issues.

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.

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