The share price of Bank of Valletta plc retreated by 3.5% during this morning's session of the Stock Exchange as the equity turned ex-dividend. Only 1,800 shares were transacted today following the high volumes that took place in recent weeks. The Bank will be holding its Annual General Meeting on 19 December. Among other resolutions, during the meeting, shareholders will be asked to approve the final gross dividend of €0.13 per share and the 1 for 9 bonus share issue. The bonus issue is payable to those shareholders as at close of trading on 14 January.
International Hotel Investments plc also ended in negative territory as its share price slumped 6.3% back to the €0.75 level across four trades totalling 38,650 shares. In its latest communication to the market, the IHI Group explained that the performance of its hotels generally continued to improve in a similar manner to that seen in the first half of 2012. This also reflects the success of the increased revenues being generated from the global distribution system as these increased by 75% over 2011 and now account for 19% of the Group's total revenue. Overall, the Directors expect Group EBITDA for the whole of 2012 to show an improvement over that registered in 2011. Nonetheless, given the unpredictable conditions prevailing in the countries in which the Group operates, the Directors are not in a position to assess the eventual impact, if any, on the value of the Group's properties at the end of the year.
On the other hand, Crimsonwing plc's equity advanced by a further 5% to yet another 3-year high of €0.399 on two deals totalling 60,000 shares. The company is shortly expected to publish its interim results as at 30 September 2012.
For the second consecutive session, GO plc recovered from an intra-day low of €0.98 to close unchanged at the €1.00 level on low volumes of 5,000 shares.
Overall, the MSE Share Index tumbled 1.9% to a fresh 2-month low of 3,054.105 points.
On the bond market, the Rizzo Farrugia MGS Index again eased minimally lower to 999.899 points as Eurozone yields regained the 1.35% level following better-than-expected economic data in the region. The Eurozone entered into the second recession since 2009 after the region contracted by 0.1% in the third quarter - the second consecutive quarter of decline.
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