On Thursday, the president of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, delivered a speech in which he stated that inflation in the eurozone has risen to just under two per cent for the first time in four years.
Markets are now anticipating that the likelihood as to whether an interest rate hike would occur by August 2018 increased to 68 per cent from 31 per cent last week. Inflationary pressures affect bond prices negatively and this was witnessed by government stocks during the week.
As opposed to the recovery witnessed in February, practically all the sovereign debt issues active this week slumped. Given the low coupons and higher duration, long dated issues experienced the worst losses. The sharpest week-on-week decline was that registered in the 3% MGS 2040 as this fell by 3.1 per cent, to close at €108.02.
Elsewhere, in the corporate debt market, a total of 26 issues were active of which losers amounted to almost three times as much as the gainers. More specifically, five issues appreciated while 14 headed south while the active non-moving issues amounted to seven.
Total trading in corporate bond issues amounted to €1.25m.
Meanwhile, the MSE Index closed off a week of negative performances, as the index registered a weekly loss of 0.41 per cent, to settle at 4,744.261 points. In total, 15 equities were active during the week, of which gainers and non-movers tallied at seven while only one gained ground.
Total turnover stood at similar levels as last week at €1.57m.
HSBC Bank Malta plc shares did not manage to hold on to the fresh three-year high registered last week as a decline of one cent was registered. Total turnover amounted to almost €374,000 over 37 trades.
On the contrary, Bank of Valletta plc shares held on to the nine-year high registered last week, as the price at the end of the week read €2.21. This equity was by far the most liquid of the lot as total turnover almost reached €600,000 spread across 91 transactions.
Other active non-moving equities were Simonds Farsons Cisk plc, GO plc, GlobalCapital plc, MIDI plc, Malita Investments plc and RS2 Software plc.
During the week, the board of directors of Plaza Centres plc approved the Group’s Audited Financial Statements for the year ended December 31, 2016. The Group’s revenue for the year was €2.7m (2015: €2.4m) an increase of 11.8%, while profit before tax amounted to €1.65m compared to €1.59m in 2015. Earnings before Interest, Taxation, Depreciation and Amortisation increased by 8.2% from €2.09m 2015 to €2.26m in 2016.
At the forthcoming AGM, the board of directors is recommending approval of the payment of a final net dividend of €0.0294 net per share (2015 €0.0286 net per share). The final net dividend will be paid on Tuesday June 6, 2017 to shareholders on the company’s share register at close of business on Friday, April 28, 2017. Despite this positive announcement, the equity failed to register any activity during the week.
Malta Properties Company plc shares headed the list of fallers in the equity market by some margin. The price setback amounted to 5.3 per cent as the equity settled at €0.52. This result was registered following eight trades of 52,851 shares.
The respective equities of Lombard Bank Malta plc, Tigne Mall plc and Malta International Airport plc all headed south by over 2 per cent.
Lombard Bank Malta plc declined by 2.9 per cent as the closing price read €2.32. This loss materialised over one transaction of 2,756 shares. Last Thursday, the board of directors of Lombard Bank Malta plc approved the audited financial statements for the financial year ended December 31, 2016.
The Group reported that profit before tax increased by 5.1% to €8.24m when compared to €7.84m in 2015. Improved performance was registered in almost all the bank’s business lines even though the growing regulatory demands served as a dampener to more aggressive growth.
The Group produced a robust set of results proving that it is well positioned to meet the challenges of a fast-changing industry. The board of directors resolved to recommend that the AGM approves the payment of a final gross dividend of €0.04 (net dividend of €0.026) per nominal €0.25 share. This will be paid on May 5, 2017 to shareholders appearing on the bank’s Register of Shareholders as at March 28, 2017.
Shares of Tigne Mall plc depreciated by 2.6 per cent to €1.10 across two deals of 9,300 shares.
Malta International Airport plc announced that it had welcomed 296,250 passengers in February, translating into a 25.2% increase in traffic over the same period in 2016.
This makes February the fourth, consecutive winter month to register double-digit growth. Albeit these positive results, the equity fell by 2.1 per cent to €4.15, following 17 deals worth €90,000.
Following last week’s price slump, International Hotel Investments plc shares recouped half of these losses as they gained 1.6 per cent, to close at €0.64. That meant that this was the sole equity to close in positive territory during the week. Total turnover exceeded the €17,650 mark spread across eight transactions.
The board of directors of Mapfre Middlesea plc, approved the audited financial statements for the financial year ended December 31, 2016 for approval at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting (AGM) scheduled for Friday, April 21, 2017.
Total Group profit before tax for the year amounted to €11.65 million as compared to €17.84 million during the previous year with after tax profits at €8.93 million compared to €11.87 million in 2015 – 2015 Group results were influenced by a one-off gain of pre- tax €5.05 million arising as a result of a major restructuring of MAPFRE MSV Life’s p.l.c. reinsurance programme as from 2015.
The board of directors recommend the payment of a final net dividend of €0.03826 per share. The final dividend, if approved at the AGM, will be paid on May 19, 2017 to shareholders on the company’s share register at close of business on April 28, 2017.
The equity traded only once with very thin volumes. As a result of this single trade, the equity declined by 1.8 per cent, to close at €2.19.
Medserv plc’s equity also had a negative week due to a 1.5 per cent decline in price.
Total turnover surpassed the €51,000 mark across 11 trades.