The share index edged 0.16 per cent higher and closed this morning’s session at 3,396.234 points mainly on the back of a two per cent recovery in the share price of HSBC Bank Malta plc to €2.04 on activity of 28,000 shares.
HSBC will be publishing its half-year financial statements and declaring an interim dividend on Monday.
On the other hand, Bank of Valletta plc declined by 1.4 per cent to €2.10 following the publication of the interim directors statement yesterday.
The bank reported that since the end of the first half of its 2013/14 financial year on March 31 there was a decline in the interest margin in part due to the prevailing low interest rate scenario as well as the negative overnight deposit rates with the European Central Bank.
BOV explained that demand for business credit was weak although this was partly offset by a robust demand for home loans. Meanwhile, customer deposits continued to grow leading to an increase in liquidity.
On the other hand, BOV confirmed that it registered an increase in fee and commission income, fair value movements improved moderately while expenses increased, mainly attributable to higher regulatory costs. BOV also reported that it continued to adopt a cautious approach towards provisioning.
Three other equities performed positively. Go plc advanced to yet another six-year high of €2.40 on volumes of 7,000 shares. Go has yet to announce the date of publication of their interim financials. RS2 Software plc closed 0.4 per cent higher at €2.60 on encouraging volumes totalling 33,153 shares with Middlesea Insurance plc up 0.6 per cent to the 87c5 level on a single trade of 6,000 shares.
On the other hand, Plaza Centres plc shed 6.7 per cent to 56c as a total of 46,094 changed hands across seven deals.
Simonds Farsons Cisk plc and Malta International Airport plc closed unchanged at €2.87 (3,700 shares) and €2.35 (950 shares), respectively.
On the bond market, the Rizzo Farrugia MGS Index closed marginally higher at 1,060.715 points despite a continued recovery in Eurozone yields to the 1.18 per cent earlier on this morning ahead of important US employment data which is envisaged to lighten up the markets which have been under constant negative news pressure during the past week.
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