The MSE Equity Price Index erased most of Monday's strong gains as it retreated by 1% to 4,497.972 points. Various equities trended lower while only PG, Plaza and Farsons ended the day on a positive note.
Most of Tuesday's activity took place in the equities of HSBC and BMIT as volumes in these two shares represented just over 50% of total trading.
HSBC Bank Malta plc shed 5.2% to a four-month low of €1.65 on heightened activity totalling 71,565 shares. On Tuesday morning, the bank published the preliminary statement of the 2018 annual results. The bank reported a deterioration in profitability reflecting the unfavourable interest rate scenario, lower profits from the bank’s insurance business as well as the impact of expected credit losses amounting to €3.49 million compared to a reversal of loan impairments of €1.17 million in the previous year.
The bank also slashed its final net dividend distribution to €0.012 per share which also takes into consideration new regulatory requirements imposed by the European Central Bank. Looking ahead, HSBC Malta’s CEO Andrew Beane commended the bank’s position to leverage on measured growth while retaining its highest global standards of compliance.
On its second day of trading, the equity of BMIT Technologies plc eased by 3.6% to the €0.53 level across 212,994 shares.
GO plc retracted by 0.9% to the €4.36 level after partially rebounding from an intra-day low of €4.32 (1.8%). A total of 5,444 shares changed hands. The company is due to publish its 2018 full-year financial results on March 8.
Also among the large companies, RS2 Software plc lost 4.8% back to the €1.40 level on volumes of 13,655 shares.
Two deals totalling 10,718 shares forced the equity of Trident Estates plc to retreat by 2.2% to the €1.32 level.
Within the same sector, MIDI plc dropped by 0.8% to €0.655 albeit on just 4,000 shares.
In contrast, Plaza Centres plc added 1% to the €1.03 level across 18,000 shares.
PG plc regained the €1.38 level (+0.7%) on 44,050 shares while Simonds Farsons Cisk plc surged 3% to a one-month high of €8.60 across 2,230 shares.
Meanwhile, Bank of Valletta plc (32,950 shares) and FIMBank plc (14,300 shares) traded unchanged at the €1.26 and $0.70 levels respectively. BOV is due to publish its 2018 full-year results on March 15 while the annual general meeting is scheduled for May 9.
A single deal of 4,000 shares left the equity of International Hotel Investments plc at its highest level in almost eight months of €0.68.
The 2018 earnings reporting season continues on Wednesday with the publication of the full-year financial results by Malta International Airport plc.
The RF MGS Index extended Monday's gain by a further 0.02% to 1,104.586 points.
Sovereign bond yields in the euro area trended mostly lower today as fresh economic data from Germany and the entire single currency area continued to point to a slowdown. In contrast, Italian government bond yields rose sharply amid significant declines in the country’s industrial production in December 2018. Meanwhile, outside of Europe trade negotiations between the US and China continued to grab headlines ahead of the expiry of the March 1 pre-set deadline.
Stock markets are volatile and subject to fluctuations which cannot be reasonably foreseen. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results.