The Malta Stock Exchange index fell for the second consecutive week, closing the week 1.4 per cent lower at 4,442.867 points. The week was characterised by a drop in equity prices of listed local banks.
Elsewhere, the sovereign bond market was still experiencing vola-tility while corporate bonds were relatively more stable and positive.
Twelve local sovereign bond issues closed in the red, with the biggest decline being registered in the 3.3% Malta Government Stock 2024 falling by two per cent. Ten other issues closed the week in the black.
In the corporate debt market, a total of 32 issues were active during the week, of which 13 gained ground, eight closed lower, while 11 closed unchanged.
In the first half of the week, International Hotel Investments plc announced that it has obtained regulatory approval for the issue of €40m Unsecured bonds with a coupon of four per cent, maturing in 2026. The bond will be issued at par, with a minimum subscription of €2,000 and will replace two existing issues, being the International Hotel Investments 6.25 per cent 2017-2020 and the Island Hotels Group 6.5 per cent 2017-2019. Preference will be given to the bond holders of these two issues.
In the equity market, 16 issues were active of which the majority performed negatively, five gained and two lost ground. Bank of Valletta plc shares declined by 2.6 per cent to close the week at €2.201. The fall in price was mainly due to the credit rating downgrade announced by Fitch on Thursday from BBB+ to BBB. In a reaction the bank’s CEO Mario Mallia explained that the downgrade in the long-term rating is driven by Fitch’s view that the bank needs to increase its capital levels, in an environment of rising regulatory requirements. He further stated that “the bank has, in fact, already made public its intention to strengthen its capital buffers, through a combination of fresh capital issues, restrained dividend payouts and the review of the business model”. The bank also announced that the annual general meeting will be held on Friday, December 16 to approve the company’s financial statements for the year ended September 30, 2016, the payment of a gross final dividend of €0.0852 per share and a bonus share issue of one for every 13 shares held.
Total turnover in BOV shares during the week amounted to €458,000, spread over 64 deals.
In the same industry, HSBC Bank Malta plc shares also closed the week in the red at €1.80, with a total volume of 39,233 shares, spread over 16 transactions.
In addition, two trades of 10,000 shares in Lombard Bank Malta plc negatively impacted the equity’s price by a small margin as it closed the week at €2.10.
Despite FIMBank plc announcing the finalisation of the acquisition process of commercial International Bank SAE and CIB Social Insurance Fund’s shareholding in Egypt Factors, three deals amounting to $25.3k dragged the price 1.8 per cent lower, to close the week at $0.835.
Two trades of 2,998 shares caused the share price of International Hotel Investments plc to fall by 4.6 per cent and close at €0.62.
Medserv plc shares closed at the intra-week high of €1.678 as 13 deals worth approximately €190,000 pushed the price up by a staggering 14.2 per cent. The reasons behind such performance were two announcements issued by the company during the week.
In its interim directors’ statement issued on Monday, the company announced that revenue for the current financial year is expected to be close to the revised forecasted amount of €38 million, which could improve if projects earmarked to commence in the last quarter of the current year marterialise.
In a separate statement, the company also announced that it has been re-awarded a contract by Eni North Africa (EniNa) to provide logistics base and associated services for exploration activities taking place offshore and onshore in Libya. The contract has been extended for one year with the possibility of extending for another year.
RS2 Software plc shares fell by 0.9 per cent over the week to close at €1.536 – total turnover reached €123.2k, spread over 28 trades.
In the property sector, Malita Investments plc shares rebounded following last week’s losses, to close the week 2.2 per cent higher at €0.869, with a total volume of 33,405 traded shares, spread over six trades.
On the other hand, the share price of Malta Properties Company plc remained afloat, closing at €0.60 for yet another week – the fourth in a row.
Seven trades worth a total of €18,000 in MaltaPost plc shares managed to push up its price by a further 1.6 per cent, closing the week at €1.88.
In the beverage industry, five transactions amounting to 3,222 shares in Simonds Farsons Cisk plc dragged the share price downwards by 1.5 per cent to €6.45.
GO plc shares fell marginally in value by 0.3 per cent to close at €3.24. Total turnover in this equity amounted to €16k across seven deals.
Santumas Shareholdings plc traded five times, for a total of 39,229 shares during the week and last traded at €2.402. On Monday, the company announced that the one for 10 bonus issue allocated to shareholders on the company register as at Friday November 18, 2016, were available for trading from Tuesday, November 22, while the share split as approved at the company’s annual general meeting will be allocated to shareholders on the company’s register as at close of business yesterday and will be available for trading on Monday.
Notwithstanding 15 trades of a combined value of €104,000 executed in Malta International Airport plc shares, its price closed unchanged at €4.08.
On the contrary, two trades of 5,000 shares in Global Capital plc led to a decline in price of 2.2 per cent to end the week at €0.44.
Elsewhere, Tigne Mall plc shares experiences an increase in price of 1.9 per cent having closed at €1.10 as six trades were executed for a total turnover of €83,566.
This article, compiled by Jesmond Mizzi Financial Advisors Limited, 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 .