The Malta Stock Exchange (MSE) kicked off the first week of June on a positive note as the MSE index gained two per cent to end the week at 3,952.496 points. The index is up by 18.7 per cent since January.
Positive sentiment prevailed during last week’s first four trading sessions with the index reaching a seven-year high on Thursday – a level just shy of 4,000 points. Over 780,000 shares were traded as 231 deals worth €1.2 million were executed, up from €1.03 million the previous week.
A total of 14 equities were active, 11 of which closed higher. Meanwhile, Lombard Bank Malta plc and Malita Investments plc closed the week in negative territory, while Fimbank plc was the only equity to end the week flat. Mapfre Middlesea plc (MMS) topped the list of gainers while Midi plc and Tigné Mall plc followed with noteworthy gains.
In the financial sector, the rally in MMS shares continued, registering an 18 per cent surge in its share price, following the previous week’s 14.7 per cent. A total of 12 transactions worth €21,000 were executed. The equity ended the first trading week of the month at €1.65 and has gained 66 per cent since the start of the year.
This positive performance resumed following the preliminary agreement reached last week with Allcare Insurance Ltd for the transfer of the latter’s insurance portfolio to MMS. This agreement is subject to regulatory approvals from the relevant authorities. The application for approval was forwarded to the MFSA last Tuesday.
HSBC Bank Malta plc shares posted a 1.7 per cent gain as the bank’s share price closed at €1.84. Trading volume more than halved as 45,000 shares were traded in 30 deals. Meanwhile, Bank of Valletta plc (BOV) shares edged minimally higher to €2.28. The share price moved between a weekly low of €2.261 and a high of €2.285. BOV shares are the best performers in the banking sector with an 11 per cent gain year-to-date.
Conversely, Fimbank plc is down by nearly 15 per cent this year as the equity closed unchanged at $0.465 after two deals of 31,700 shares on Friday. Meanwhile, Lombard Bank Malta plc shares declined by a further 2.5 per cent as the equity succumbed to selling pressure in Monday’s and Friday’s sessions to end the week 2.52 per cent lower at €1.82 as six deals of 26,600 shares were executed.
Elsewhere, International Hotel Investments plc (IHI) maintained its positive momentum as its share price gained a further four per cent, ending the week at €0.81. Last week’s gain was tainted in last Friday’s session, when a single deal of 465 shares dragged its price down eight per cent from a high of €0.88 reached on Thursday. This equity, which is among the largest local listed equities in terms of capitalisation, is up by 40 per cent year-to-date.
The share price of Go plc recorded a similar gain to the previous week of 1.3 per cent as the telecoms operator reached the €3.10 mark. The equity kicked off the week with a 0.7 per cent rise and gained further ground in the week’s last two sessions.
In the property sector, Midi plc shares broke through the €0.30 level as the share price jumped by 10 per cent to €0.33 as the equity witnessed a substantial increase in demand. In fact, just over 214,000 shares were traded throughout the week, up from 30,000 shares the previous week.
Tigné Mall plc rose 6.3 per cent or €0.05 higher as two deals of 22,000 shares were executed at €0.85. On the other hand, Malita Investments plc shares declined by one per cent to close at €0.95.
Thin trading in Simonds Farsons Cisk plc sent the equity’s price 0.3 per cent higher to the €3.76 level – a new high. Last Thursday the company announced that the next annual general meeting will be held on June 25.
Meanwhile, Malta International Airport plc shares failed to hold on to a weekly high of €3.38 as the share price closed with a moderate 0.18 per cent gain at €3.365. The airport operator announced that during May the company recorded an increase of 9.9 per cent in passenger traffic over the same period last year. During summer, the airport will introduce two new routes to Helsinki and Warsaw, five new airlines and a number of additional frequencies.
Medserv plc shares gained 0.5 per cent to €2.16, while in the IT sector, RS2 Software plc reached another all-time high of €3.425 as 16 deals worth €108,000 were recorded. Since the beginning of the year, the IT equity is up by 17.3 per cent.
In the corporate bond market, 24 bond issues were active as turnover declined to €800,000, down from €1.5 million the previous week. Yields in this sector of the local market were generally lower as increased demand for local bonds sent prices higher. The 5.3 per cent United Finance plc bond 2023 gained five per cent while the 10-year 5.75 per cent IHI 2025 moved 2.3 per cent higher. On the downside, the 4.25 per cent BOV 2019 shed 1.2 per cent to end the week at €108.70.
Turnover in sovereign debt market almost doubled as 408 transactions of €21.2 million were recorded. All of the 26 active issues declined. In line with foreign bond markets, the sell-off of local government stocks took centre stage last week after European Central Bank president Mario Draghi raised the bank’s inflation expectations for 2015 to 0.3 per cent, up from zero per cent. German bonds posted their worst weekly losses since 1999, with the 10-year bond shedding almost three per cent as the uncertainty surrounding the Greek debt escalated.
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.