Local Sovereign Debt registered a positive week as out of the 24 active issues, the absolute majority – 20 – closed in the black, while three closed lower as turnover fell from €9.4m to €7.4m.
Long dated bonds having a maturity greater than 12 years registered the strongest gains, ranging from 0.42 and 1.93 per cent. The 4.3% MGS 2033 (I) R strongly rebounded from last week’s decline to close the week 1.9 per cent higher at €135.50.
In the corporate debt market a total of 40 issues were active of which the gainers and losers tallied to 13-a-piece.
On Tuesday, the 4% Stivala Properties plc Secured Bonds 2027 commenced trading, closing at €102.25.
The MSE Equity Total Return Index plunged during the week as the index closed 1.5 per cent lower at 8,804.547 points.
The drag was mainly a result of the downward pressure on the Bank of Valletta plc share price, which erased 10 per cent of its value as the shares fell ex-rights last week. A total of 16 issues were active during the week of which eight closed in the red, while six gained ground, as a total turnover of €1.778 million was generated among 232 deals.
Bank of Valletta plc shares closed at the €1.80 price level having had the lion’s share of total turnover as 129 trades managed to generate a total turnover of €1.264 million.
Last Wednesday, following regulatory approval Bank of Valletta plc issued a prospectus in relation to a rights issue of 105,000,000 new shares of a nominal value of €1.00 per share.
Lombard Bank plc shares followed suit as 13 trades amounting to 21,998 shares managed to drag the price of the equity by 4.4 per cent to hit the €2.20 price level.
HSBC Bank Malta plc shares headed in the opposite direction as the equity closed the week at €1.89. A total of 13 transactions managed to generate a total turnover of €43,938.
On Wednesday, Malta International Airport plc announced that it recently signed a new concession agreement with Dufry, the world’s leading travel retailer, for the operation of the terminal’s duty free store on Level 1 covering the period between January 2019 and December 2026. The reconceived area will occupy around 1,400 square metres.
The equity was active 12 times managing to generate a total turnover of €106,894, to close 0.8 per cent lower at €4.75.
Also on Wednesday, International Hotel Investments plc published its Interim Directors Statement, in which it announced that the company is on course to register a record operating profit for the year 2017, driven by a solid underlying performance in all its hotel operations in Europe and beyond. The equity reached a 36-week high at €0.631.
Meanwhile, Maltapost plc shares were just shy of reaching an all-time high on Monday, as two trades lifted the price to €2.079.
RS2 Software plc shares swayed between negative and positive ground, hitting a 19-week low, during intra-week trading at €1.55.
The equity recovered and advanced by 3.1 per cent week-on-week to close at €1.649.
Retail conglomerate, PG plc traded twice over 5,000 shares, managing to erase 1.3 per cent of the equity’s value having closed at €1.48.
In the telecommunications sector, GO plc declined by 1.1 per cent to close the week at €3.55.
In the insurance industry, Mapfre Middlesea plc and Global Capital plc closed 0.8 per cent lower at €1.92 and €0.357 respectively – both trading on a slim turnover.
In the property sector, Malita Investments plc shares registered the weakest performance among its peers as the equity lost 6.1% of its value to close at €0.751.
Meanwhile, property counterparts Malta Properties Company plc and MIDI plc gained marginally to close 0.6 per cent and 0.3 per cent higher, at €0.51 and €0.32 respectively.
On Thursday, MIDI plc announced that its revised Masterplan for the restoration and redevelopment of Manoel Island has been submitted to the Planning Authority (PA) for its consideration and to the Environmental and Resources Authority (ERA) for Environmental Impact Assessment evaluation.
A period of public consultation will now commence with both the PA and the ERA.
Elsewhere, Simonds Farsons Cisk plc and Medserv plc shares remained unchanged at €9.65 and €1.26 respectively.
On Tuesday, Loqus Holdings plc announced that the board approved the financial statements for the financial year ended June 30, 2017 and resolved that they be submitted for the approval of the shareholders at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting.
The group reported that it had registered a profit of €484,014 (2016: €268,549). Meanwhile, the Group’s revenue decreased from €3.893 million in 2016 to €3.476 million in 2017. The adjusted earnings per share increased from €0.08 in 2016 to €0.015 in 2017.
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