The MSE Equity Total Return Index fell by 0.41 per cent this week, closing at 8,436.141 points giving back some of last week’s advancement. A total of 20 equities were active, as gainers and fallers were balanced at seven apiece. Total turnover was €1.3 million, compared to the previous week’s figure of €0.9 million.
The most liquid equity was Bank of Valletta plc as 99,485 shares were exchanged across 45 transactions. The equity hit a low of €1.70 on Thursday following the Annual General Meeting, before bouncing back yesterday to close at €1.75.
All other equities in the banking industry moved in the opposite direction, led by FIMBank plc which slipped to €0.505. A total of six trades of a combined 68,508 shares were recorded, all executed during mid-week.
Also on Tuesday, FIMBank announced the final results of the rights issue, where at the closing of the intermediaries offer, a total of 196,703 lapsed rights were bought at $0.55, while another 9,000 shares were bought at $0.56. Trading in the new shares on the Malta Stock Exchange is expected to commence on Tuesday.
HSBC Bank Malta plc erased last week’s gain by drifting 2.31 per cent, settling at a price of €1.69 as trading volume totalled 42,473 shares over 17 deals.
Lombard Bank Malta plc followed suit, as it posted falls of 1.69 per cent, to €2.32. This was the outcome of six trades of 39,337 shares.
In the telecommunications sector, GO plc registered an identical performance to the previous week, as the share price advanced by another 0.58 per cent to reach €3.48. In total, 21,270 shares changed ownership across nine deals.
On a negative note, International Hotel Investment plc shares closed the week in the red as the equity lost 3.1 per cent of its value to close the session at €0.625. This was the result of a couple of deals of 20,000 shares.
On Monday, Malta International Airport plc published its traffic results for the month of April, showing a total of 591,283 passenger movements. The positive trend of the previous months was extended to April as well, as aircraft movements and seat capacity saw an increase of 18.8 per cent and 18.5 per cent respectively during April.
Yesterday, after market close, the company announced that its financial performance for the first quarter of 2018 was very positive, surpassing the results of the same period in 2017. Turnover increased to €13.9 million over the previous year, while expenditure increased to €7.9 million.
The equity registered positive performances midweek, to reach €4.92. The equity traded heavily as 16 deals were recorded, in which 20,694 shares changed hands.
MaltaPost plc traded at a low of €1.78 on Monday, before recapturing the original €1.80 level mid-week. These were the only two registered transactions of the week, generating a turnover of €22,052.
The insurance company, Mapfre Middlesea plc was the top performer this week, soaring 7.37 per cent to €2.04. The equity traded five times as 6,450 shares traded.
GlobalCapital plc announced on Thursday that the Annual General Meeting shall be held on Wednesday, June 27. Three transactions of a combined 5,075 shares were registered this week, lowering the price by 3.03 per cent to €0.32.
The largest decline in share value was recorded by RS2 Software plc as it sank 5.38 per cent. The share price swayed between €1.15 and €1.28 during the week, ultimately closing at €1.23.
Simonds Farsons Cisk plc and Medserv plc closed unchanged at €6.70 and €1.10 respectively, despite generating turnovers of €83,750 and €76,127.
Similarly, retail conglomerate PG plc rebounded from a weak start to close unchanged at €1.31.
The property sector had a positive week as three equities posted gains. Malta Properties Company plc recorded a solid gain, closing at €0.47 as a result of six deals of 78,860 shares.
MIDI plc traded seven times as 106,000 shares changed hands. The share price recovered from a mid-week slump to close higher at €0.37.
Tigne Mall plc posted a more modest gain of 1.05 per cent to close at €0.96, the outcome of a couple of trades of 17,245 shares.
On the other hand, Malita Investments plc was the only equity in the sector to head south, as 11 transactions of 110,294 shares shaved 0.59 per cent off the share price, down to €0.84.
In the local sovereign debt market, issues registered mixed performances as 15 issues traded lower and seven gained ground. Yields for the shorter dated bonds were generally up while all the issues maturing in 2034 or later, saw decreases in yields.
In fact, the best performer was the 2.4% MGS 2041 which rose by 0.46 per cent to €108.50. On the other hand, the 5.2% MGS 2031 was the worst performer with a decline of 0.76 per cent to €143.
In the corporate debt market a total of 37 issues were active during the week, as gainers amounted to 16 and fallers tallied to nine.
Last week’s gain registered by the 5% GlobalCapital plc Unsecured € 2021 proved unsustainable as the bond curbed almost all of this advancement by drifting 2.24 per cent lower to €97.50 this week.
The 5.75% International Hotel Investments plc Unsecured € 2025 headed the list of gainers with a 2.33 per cent increase in value to €110.