MSE Equity Total Return Index erased most of the previous week’s gain as it drifted 1.46 per cent lower over the course of this four-day week to 8,677.545 points.
A total of 16 equities were active of which ten headed north, while only four gained ground, as total turnover was €1.7 million, as 219 deals were executed.
Bank of Valletta plc (BOV) kicked off an eventful week by announcing that the board was advised by UniCredit S.p.A. that subject to regulatory approval, it intends to dispose of its total shareholding in the bank to an investor that has already been identified.
On Tuesday, BOV made another announcement regarding the legal proceedings which were instituted against the bank in Italy, in which the plaintiffs are requesting the bank to pay €363 million as compensation for the loss registered from the shares of a company which had been settled on trust with the Bank in 2009.
Although the case is still at its preliminary stage, the Italian Tribunal has issued a precautionary warrant for €363 million against the bank. The equity posted losses for three straight days (having also dipped slightly on Monday), ultimately closing the week at €1.80.
HSBC Bank Malta plc was the only other active equity in the banking sector, recovering the previous week’s loss to recapture the €1.86 price level.
GO plc shares ended the month unchanged having depreciated 2.78 per cent in value this week back to the €3.50 level.
In the insurance sector, Mapfre Middlesea plc shares reached a fresh 11-month high as the equity touched the €2.10 price level, on a total volume of 18,504, spread over eight transactions.
Malta International Airport plc closed the month 0.81 per cent lower as its share price remained unchanged at €4.90 this week.
MaltaPost plc traded just once on slim volume at a 70-week low of €1.86. Despite drifting 3.38 per cent lower to €1.43 this week across six deals of 15,193 shares, March was still a positive month for RS2 Software plc shares, as the monthly gain totalled 10.85 per cent.
During the week, Simonds Farsons Cisk plc traded eight times, generating a trading volume of 7,460 shares. The minor gain registered last week proved unsustainable as the equity price returned to the €6.95 level.
In the retail sector, the share price of PG plc dropped to €1.36. A total of 31,650 shares traded across seven deals.
The oil and gas logistics specialists, Medserv plc announced on Tuesday that its board is scheduled to meet on April 27 to consider and approve the annual financial statements of the company for 2017.
The equity extended its monthly loss to 9.09 per cent having closed at a 15-week low of €1.10.
In the property market, Trident Estates plc was one of the few positive performers as it posted a gain of 2.7 per cent to reach €1.90 as a single transaction of 2,000 Tigne Mall plc shares shaved 3.06 per cent off the share price, closing at €0.95.
Malta Properties Company plc followed suit as it was down by 2.08 per cent both week-on-week and month-on-month, settling at €0.47 as 51,452 shares were exchanged over six deals.
In midweek, after turning ex-div, Malita Investments plc cancelled out the gains registered earlier during the week, to close a marginal 0.62 per cent lower at €0.80.
Trading volume totalled 95,350 shares across 14 deals. When compared with the previous month, thus resulting in a 3.61 per cent decline in value.
In the same sector, Plaza Centres plc traded in positive territory as a couple of deals of a combined 9,000 shares pushed the price upwards by 1.92 per cent to €1.06. This equates to a monthly gain of 4.95 per cent.
For MIDI plc, the increase in value for the month amounted to 1.76 per cent, having closed unchanged at €0.346 this week.
On Wednesday, International Hotel Investment plc (IHI) announced that its subsidiary, Corinthia Hotels Limited, has signed a management agreement to operate a new luxury property opening in the heart Bucharest, Romania.
The Corinthia Grand Hotel du Boulevard Bucharest, originally built in 1867, will undergo refurbishment before reopening on December 1, 2019 and will offer over 50 rooms and suites, exquisite dining options, a grand ballroom, boutique meeting spaces and luxury amenities. In spite of this announcement, IHI shares were not active during the week.
Performances in the local sovereign debt market were mixed as out of the 21 active issues, ten gained ground and 11 registered losses. Longer-dated Malta Government Stocks registered the largest declines, with the 2.4% MGS 2041 topping the list of fallers having depreciating 0.99 per cent. On the other hand, the best performer was the 4.8% MGS 2028 which gained 0.61% per cent, closing at €134.45.
In the local corporate debt market a total of 32 issues were active during the week, of which nine headed north, and eight closed in negative territory.
The 5.3% Mariner Finance plc Unsecured €2024 reversed last week’s gain, as the bond price declined by 2.03 per cent to close at €108.75. The 3.75% Premier Capital plc Unsecured € 2026 did the opposite as it recovered the previous week’s loss by advancing 1.36 per cent to close at €104.05.