The MSE Equity Price Index eased by 0.17% to just below the 4,300 mark as the declines in four equities (including those of GO and RS2) outweighed the gains in three other shares. Meanwhile, four shares closed the day unchanged. The total value of equities traded dropped to a four-day low of €0.32 million.
MIDI plc added 1.2% to a new record high of €0.50 on heightened activity totalling 377,588 shares. The company is scheduled to publish its interim results on 30 August.
Within the same segment, Trident Estates plc regained the €1.33 level (+0.8%) across 6,025 shares.
Bank of Valletta plc moved 1% higher to the €1.515 level on fourteen deals totalling 41,660 shares.
On the other hand, HSBC Bank Malta plc held on to its two-month low of €1.80 across 3,758 shares. Today, the equity started trading without the entitlement to the recently declared net interim dividend of €0.026 per share.
Low trading activity also took place in three other shares that traded unchanged. International Hotel Investments plc retained the €0.64 level on just 6,100 shares. The company still has to announce the date of the publication of its interim financial statements.
A single deal of 1,054 shares left the equity of Malta International Airport plc at the €5.65 level whilst Mapfre Middlesea plc maintained the €1.89 level on trivial volumes. Shareholders of MIA as at close of trading on 20 August are entitled to receive a net interim dividend of €0.03 per share.
GO plc dropped 2.4% to the €3.32 level albeit on a trade of only 1,730 shares. Last Friday, the telecoms operator reported an increase of almost 10% in operating profits to €16 million – the highest in the past fourteen years.
Also among the large caps, RS2 Software plc lost 1.7% back to the €1.17 level across 10,000 shares. The company is expected to publish its interim financial statements on 28 August.
Malta Properties Company plc plunged by 7.7% to the €0.48 level on two deals totalling 21,730 shares whilst PG plc retreated by 0.7% to the €1.35 level across 7,660 shares. The Board of Directors of PG is scheduled to meet on 28 August to consider and approve the company’s financial statements for the year ended 30 April 2018. The Directors will also be considering the distribution of an interim dividend.
Following the declines in the previous two days, the RF MGS Index rebounded by a minimal 0.05% to 1,094.290 points as eurozone sovereign yields were mostly lower today when compared to last Tuesday. Uncertainties related to the currency crisis in Turkey continued to dominate financial markets as some analysts fear that this could have negative spill-over effects on emerging markets in general.