Increased demand for Bank of Valletta plc shares lifted the equity a further 1.8% higher to a 2-month high of €3.34. Investors reacted positively to the publication of the Interim Directors Statement last Friday. The BOV Group explained that its operational performance remained strong during the third quarter of its current financial year (April to June 2010).
Meanwhile the share price of HSBC Bank Malta plc failed to hold on to yesterday’s gains as the equity shed 1.3% to €3.02. Last Friday HSBC published its interim results showing a 21.4% increase in pre-tax profits to €42.2 million mainly on the back of a 26.2% jump in net interest income.
HSBC reduced its dividend payout ratio to 55% and the directors declared an interim gross dividend of €0.079 per share (June 2009: €0.077) to those shareholders as at close of trading next Thursday 5 August.
This morning, Malta International Airport plc published the traffic results for the month of July. Following the 10.3% increase in passenger movements recorded in the first half of 2010, the July statistics show a further 15.8% increase to a record high of 401,952 passenger movements – the first time MIA recorded more than 400,000 passenger movements in a month. As a result the growth in passenger movements during the first seven months of the year now reads 11.5% amounting to 1,782,757 passenger movements.
This was the second positive announcement by MIA in a matter of days. Last Friday MIA reported a 20% increase in pre-tax profits to €5.6 million during the first six months of the year mainly on the back of a 10.3% rise in passenger movements. The Directors approved a net interim dividend of €0.03 per share payable to those shareholders on the Company’s register as at close of trading tomorrow. MIA’s equity continued to trade at the €1.62 level this morning.
Elsewhere in the local equity market, MaltaPost plc regained its 2010 high of €0.90 (+5.9%) with Medserv plc closing 0.8% higher at €4.235. On the other hand, GO and Middlesea slipped lower to €1.86 and €1.10 respectively.
On the bond market, following yesterday’s admission of the 3 new bonds by Mediterranean Investments Holding plc, trading in the EUR tranche commenced this morning with the price climbing 250 basis points to 102.50%.
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