During the final trading session for 2013, the MSE Share Index rallied by 2.2% to 3,685.79 points. During the past 12 months the Index has advanced by 14.75% and is now at its highest level since February 2011.

The main reason for the end of year rally was the sudden surge in the share price of International Hotel Investments plc. This equity climbed by 13% today on high volumes of 150,000 shares. The share price closed at €0.95 – the highest closing price since October 2012.

Four other equities performed positively during the final trading session of the year. Bank of Valletta plc edged 0.8% higher to €2.649 on volumes of 18,518 shares. BOV’s equity will trade with the entitlement to the 1 for 10 bonus issue until Tuesday 14 January. GO plc’s equity continued to reach new multi-year highs. The share price of the telecoms operator advanced by 0.9% to €1.825 on volumes of 25,000 shares. GO’s equity had a particularly positive year with an increase of 53.4%.

MIDI plc continued to recover from its all-time low of €0.22 reached earlier this year. The share price gained 3.6% today to €0.29 on volumes of 63,500 shares.

Malta International Airport plc traded up to a new all-time high of €2.16 in reaction to last Friday’s press release that 4 million passengers passed through the air terminal so far this year representing an increase of over 10% from last year’s record. The improvement in passenger traffic translated into a 20% increase in this equity during 2013.

In the IT sector, only the equity of RS2 Software plc was active during the last session of the year. The share price held on to the €2.28 level on volumes of 28,596 shares.

Meanwhile, the share price of Medserv plc shed 5.2% to a new all-time low of €1.28. Just over 56,000 shares traded during today’s session. Medserv was the weakest performer in 2013 with a decline of 18.8%.

Trading on the Malta Stock Exchange will resume on Friday 3 January 2014.

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