Index up 2.2% on positive sentiment

The Malta Stock Exchange (MSE) Index recovered from its recent downward trend registering a 2.2 per cent gain to close at 3,413.339 points.  Investors’ enthusiasm prevailed as the index registered a gain every day except Wednesday when it declined by a marginal 0.06 per cent. The main contributors to this weekly gain were Bank of Valletta plc and HSBC Bank Malta plc (HSBC), both registering solid gains, followed by RS2 Software plc (RS2) which touched new highs and International Hotels Investments plc (IHI) which bounced back from its recent decline.

Activity was based on 13 equities in trading value amounted to €618,476. Total volume for the week reached 590,645 shares dealt across 98 transactions.

As opposed to global sovereign yields, in the local sovereign market investors lacked confidence towards local Government debt following last week’s downgrade by Fitch from A+ to A. This was visible as 13 out of 22 active stocks, experienced higher yields as prices fell. Total turnover for the week reduced drastically from €33.4m to €2.6m.

In the corporate bond front, turnover amounted to a value of €977,502 with the 7.5% MIH 2012-2014 issue trading lower by just below two per cent. Meanwhile, FIMBank announced that it will be redeeming its 7% Subordinated Bonds 2012-2019 on October 30, 2013, in accordance with the terms of the prospectus dated March 9, 2009.

In the equity market, all three financial equities active this week ended on a higher note. HSBC experienced a recovery to end the week at €2.505 – registering just over a two per cent gain on last week’s 52 month low of €2.455. Bank of Valletta plc gained €0.059 or 2.5 per cent, despite touching an intra-week low of €2.35. The equity was active over relatively low volumes of 27,859 shares to close the week at €2.40. The Bank announced that its Annual General Meeting will be held on Thursday, December 19, 2013.

Meanwhile, Middlesea Insurance plc headed the list of gainers as its share price soared by 6.3 per cent over a single trade of 8,756 shares to end the week at €0.85.

In the hotel industry, IHI closed unchanged in the mid-week session however gained just below five per cent on Thursday, to close at €0.86. Ten deals worth €36,011 were executed.

Malita Investments plclocked a solid gain of four per cent on Thursday, in which 29,000 shares changed hands to close at €0.52. On the other hand, Medserv plc declined by 2.8 per cent on Tuesday to close at €3.50.

Two equities, Malta International Airport plc and Plaza Centres plc both closed the week flat. The airport operator traded at €1.92 over a single trade of 3,000 shares while the shopping complex operator closed at €0.56 during a single session.

In the I.T. industry, RS2 reclaimed its record closing price of €1.95 marking a 5.4 per cent gain, even reaching record intra-week highs of €2.00 – this ahead of next Wednesday’s extraordinary general meetingfor shareholders to consider and approve a number of changes to the company's memorandum and articles of association.The software developer was active during three trading sessions as 35,485 shares were dealt. Meanwhile, Crimsonwing plc closed flat at €0.74 over high volumes of 158,150 shares which were dealt across four transactions.

GO plclost a marginal 0.07 per cent on Wednesday to close at €1.489, while Maltapost plc closed flat at €1.10 after touching an intra-week low of €1.09.

The other non-mover for the week was Tigne Mall plc which maintained a €0.51 share price, despite heading lower by just below one per cent in the mid-week session. Three trades worth €55,580 were executed.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday Simonds Farsons Cisk plc released its interim financial statements for the six months period ending July 31, 2013. The Group registered a turnover of €40m, an increase of 2.7 per cent compared to the same period last year, while profit before taxation exceeded four million Euros. The positive performance registered can be attributed to targeted efficiency gains, better turnover across most of the core business segments and another record year in the tourism sector which sustained the demand for the company’s products. The board of directors announced an interim dividend of €0.0333 per share, which will be paid out on October 18, 2013 to all shareholders appearing on the company’s register on Friday, October 4, 2013.