The MSE Share Index maintained its positive upward trend with the seventh consecutive increase. During today’s session, the Index added a further 0.1% to 3,535.452 points – it highest level since mid-March 2011.
This morning’s rise in the local equity benchmark was mainly due to the 1.3% rebound in the share price of International Hotel Investments plc to €0.77 on a small deal of 3,720 shares. Last Friday the IHI Group published its Interim Directors’ Statement explaining that during the first nine months of 2013, hotel revenues (excluding the Corinthia Hotel London) increased by 6.5% to €83.8 million and gross operating profit (GOP) increased by 10.8% to €24.7 million. Improvements were also registered in the non-hotel properties as well as in the operations of Corinthia Hotel London (50% owned). The Directors also reiterated that discussions are currently underway with potential buyers for the sale of the twelve luxury apartments in London.
GO plc’s share price also ended the session in positive territory with a 0.7% increase to €1.55 across two trades totalling 14,276 shares. Similarly, HSBC Bank Malta plc inched minimally higher to end this morning’s session at the €2.651 level across 6,655 shares.
On the other hand, the equity of Malta International Airport plc drifted 1.9% lower from its all-time high of €2.14 back to the €2.10 level on low volumes of 4,700 shares, in spite of the strong October traffic results published over the weekend. The airport operator registered a 17.4% increase in passenger movements to a record 409,400 due to a 15.2% increase in seat capacity to 501,830 seats coupled with a 1.5 percentage point increase in the seat load factor to 81.6%. During the first ten months of the year, MIA registered a 9.9% increase in passenger movements to 3,567,431 – a record number of passenger movements during this period and already higher than the number of annual passenger movements recorded prior to 2012 and approaching last year’s annual record of 3.65 million passenger movements. The announcement also noted that airport traffic reached new highs in each of the first ten months of 2013 including September and October which recorded figures only previously experience during peak months. Furthermore, MIA registered five consecutive months with passenger movements above the 400,000 mark.
RS2 Software plc also slipped by 0.9% from its all-time high of €2.30 to end this morning’s session at the €2.28 level across 5,000 shares. Last week, RS2 Software announced that Barclays Bank plc increased its stake in the Company to 18.25%.
Following three consecutive sessions of increases, the share price of Bank of Valletta plc eased minimally lower today to €2.659 across twelve deals totalling just below 12,000 shares. The equity continues to trade with the entitlement to the final gross dividend of €0.13 per share until this Thursday 14 November.
The only other equity in negative territory was Tigné Mall plc with a 2.3% drop back to its IPO price of €0.50 across 9,000 shares.
Meanwhile, Simonds Farsons Cisk plc held on to the €2.85 level on a single trade of 2,520 shares. Similarly, Middlesea Insurance plc shares ended the session unchanged at the €0.83 level on low volumes of 2,000 shares.
On the bond market, the Rizzo Farrugia MGS Index slid by 0.1% to 1,019.173 points reflecting last Friday afternoon’s rebound in Eurozone yields to 1.75% as the impact from the 25 basis point rate cut by the European Central Bank (ECB) was offset by speculation on the start of tapering by the US Federal Reserve after the publication of a very strong October jobs report.
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