The Malta Stock Exchange index continued on last week’s positive sentiment, having closed the week at 3,471.142 points. On Monday the index registered a rise of 4.56 per cent, rising from 3,374 to 3,528 followed by a marginal increase of 0.019 per cent on Tuesday and three consecutive days of declines. This brought the week-on-week gain to 2.87 per cent and a year-to-date increase of 0.31 per cent. Trading activity this week rose from 501 trades to 700 trades, for a total value amounting to €8.09 million despite no activity in the Treasury Bills market.
Turnover in the equity market almost doubled this week with a total value of over €1.21million over 266 deals, with over 65 per cent traded in Bank of Valletta plc shares. Notwithstanding this rise, securities traded have been declining over the past weeks. In fact, nine equities were active with six gaining ground, two closing lower and one equity remaining unchanged. In the Government Stock market, value traded reached an amount of €6.20 million, which was executed across 355 deals, compared to last week’s €5.24 million on 266 transactions. In the Corporate Bond market the nominal amount of 657,224 was dealt over 99 trades, for a value reaching €674,022.
It was a positive week for the banking sector, as all banking equities traded closed the week in positive territory. The best performer was Lombard Bank plc, with a hefty appreciation of 10.8 per cent. This rise was mainly registered on Monday when the bank closed the session 10 per cent higher. In total, 51,943 shares changed hands over 21 deals, closing the week at €2.77 thus reducing the year-to-date loss to 7.36 per cent.
Conversely, Loqus Holdings plc registered an astounding loss of 43.75 per cent on Tuesday, declining from its previous closing price of €0.32 to €0.18, as the equity saw 6,824 shares change hands on three deals.
The share price of Bank of Valletta plc registered a gain of 7.46 per cent, closing at €3.60, this week’s lowest trading price although the equity reached a high of €4.00. On Monday, BOV’s share price closed at €3.70 from €3.35, a rise of 10.45 per cent, following the positive annual results achieved by the Bank of Valletta Group last Friday. The equity retreated marginally on Tuesday, fell 1.32 per cent on Wednesday and by 1.64 per cent during yesterday’s session. Total trades amounted to 210,392 shares with a value of €787,428 on 174 deals.
HSBC Bank Malta plc continued to recoup from its year-to-date loss, as this week its share price rose by 3.54 per cent. The equity registered a volume of 65,444 shares across 35 transactions, as the share price closed the week at €2.899, an increase of €0.099. HSBC’s performance this week almost trailed the performance of the index, having gained 7.14 per cent on Monday, declining from Wednesday to yesterday, with the only difference being on Tuesday, having closed the session unchanged.
Go plc shares registered a rise during yesterday’s session, closing at €1.88, an increase of 0.53 per cent, having closed unchanged on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. A total of 22,440 shares were executed across 16 deals.
Middlesea Insurance plc was the only equity to close the week flat at €1.00, as 10,000 shares changed hands over three trades.
On the other hand, International Hotel Investments plc registered a decline of 2.5 per cent, or €0.02 on Monday, while remaining unchanged on two other trading sessions, with 49,578 shares changing hands on 10 deals, to close the week at €0.78.
Maltapost plc shares recouped a marginal 0.11 per cent from last week’s decline of 1.09 per cent, as it registered two deals of 4,137 shares, closing at €0.911.
The share price of Malta International Airport plc closed the week at €1.649, edging 0.55 per cent higher yesterday, on two trades of 2,000 shares.
On Thursday, Midi plc confirmed that the company had received approval for the issue of ordinary shares in the company of a nominal value of €0.20 at an issue price of €0.45 each. Midi bondholders as at October 29, 2010 will be given preference by receiving full allotment on the first 6,500 ordinary shares applied for.
Also on Thursday, the Treasury of Malta announced the prices of the two new fungible issues. The MGS 3.75% 2015 is being offered at €103.50, while the MGS 5.25% 2030 is being offered at €101.50. Applications will open on Monday, November 8, 2010 and close on Wednesday, November 10.
This article, which was compiled by Atlas JMFS Investment Services Limited, does not intend to give investment advice and the contents therein should not be construed as such. Atlas JMFS is licensed to conduct investment services by the MFSA and is a member firm of the Malta Stock Exchange. The directors or related parties, including the company, and their clients are likely to have an interest in securities mentioned in this article.
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