Island Hotels Group plc shares surge by 20.7%
Monthly Round up Report for September 2013
The Malta Stock Exchange (MSE) Index declined by 0.54 per cent – extending the previous month’s negative trend, and ending September at 3,418.297 points. Twenty equities were active in September, of which ten edged lower, nine gained and one closed unchanged. Island Hotels Group Holdings plc (IHG) headed the list of gainers as its share price surged by a significant €0.17.
The international markets registered good gains as former US treasury secretary Larry Summers withdrew from the race to be the new head of the Federal Reserve in mid-September. During that same week, the Federal Reserve in the United States unexpectedly delayed its tapering of bond purchasing to a later date. The CAC 40 in Paris rallied by 6.2 per cent, the DOW Jones in New York edged 2.2 per cent higher and the NIKKEI in Japan appreciated by eight per cent.
Locally, the telecommunications company GO plc, suffered the worst loss as its share price stumbled by 6.9 per cent or €0.11 across 30 trades of 71,333 shares, to close at €1.489. Grand Harbour Marina plc recorded a 5.3 per cent decline during September across four transactions of 9,500 shares, to close at €1.799. The Board of Directors approved the half yearly financial reports for the period ended June 30, 2013. The company registered a loss before tax of €148,153 compared to a €483,274 loss in 2012. Revenue for the period amounted to €1.5m, a rise of 16 per cent from 2012.
Similarly, Medserv plc fell by 5.4 per cent as two deals of 7,500 shares were struck, closing €0.20 lower at €3.50. The company’s €13m 6% Notes 2020/2023 new issue was over-subscribed. The notes were initially offered by way of pre-placement in the amount of €7.8m on September 23, 2013, followed by a general public offer in the amount of €5.2m opening on September 23, 2013. The company received a total of 3,845 applications representing a value of over €55m. As a result, applicants who applied for less than €15,000 shall receive an allocation of €300 and 6.18 per cent of the application amount, whereas applicants who applied for more than €15,000 shall receive 8.552 per cent of the application amount.
In the banking industry, Bank of Valletta plc was the top performer as its share price advanced by 1.7 per cent across 139 trades of 250,678 shares, closing at €2.42. The bank announced that its Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held on December 19, 2013.
FIMBank plc partially recouped August’s losses as it gained 1.6 per cent over four deals of 15,500 shares, to close at $0.955. The bank announced that it will be redeeming its 7% Subordinated Bonds 2012-2019 on October 30, 2013. On the other hand, both HSBC Bank Malta plc and Lombard Bank Malta plc plunged by 2.5 per cent and 2.1 per cent respectively. The former witnessed 218 trades of 583,916 shares, to close at€2.515, while the latter was active over eight transactions of 28,184 shares, closing at €1.86.
The main headliner for the month was IHG, as 16 deals totalling 66,750 shares saw its share price soar by a further 20.7 per cent to close at €0.99. In the same industry, International Hotel Investments plc dropped by 4.6 per cent to close at €0.859, over 15 trades of 51,201 shares. Likewise, Simonds Farsons Cisk plc (SFC) posted a 1.8 per cent loss as three transactions of 4,000 shares were executed, closing at €2.75. The Board of Directors of SFC approved the group’s unaudited financial statements for the six month period ending July 31, 2013. The group registered a profit before tax of €4.1m, compared to €4m registered in 2012. Revenue for the period amounted to €40.7m, a rise of 2.7 per cent from 2012. A dividend of €0.0333 will be paid on Friday, October 18 to all shareholders who appear on the Company’s Register as at close of business on October 4, 2013.
Plaza Centres plc declined by 0.9 per cent across eight deals of 156,600 shares, to close at €0.56. Both Malita Investments plc and Tigne’ Mall plc lost ground registering losses of 0.8 per cent and one per cent respectively.
RS2 Software plc led the way in the I.T. sector as its share price strengthened by a further 14.7 per cent on the highest volume overall. The equity reached an all-time high of €2.00 – ending the month at a record closing price of €1.95. 6PM Holdings plc fully recouped August’s loss marking a 1.5 per cent gain over six deals of 30,000 shares, to close at ₤0.61. Meanwhile, Crimsonwing plc closed the month of September unchanged at €0.74.
Malta International Airport plc shifted to positive territory with a 2.1 per cent increase over 53 trades of 208,349 shares, closing at its monthly high of €1.92. The company said that more than the equivalent of Malta’s population passed through the airport in August, a record total of 507,646 passengers. This meant that August was the best month ever for the local airport.
MaltaPost plc registered a significant 10 per cent gain on the previous month as 33 trades of 105,166 shares were dealt, to close at €1.10. Another substantial gain of 6.3 per cent was noted in Middlesea Insurance plc following the previous month’s 1.8% loss. Nine trades totalling 100,500 shares in MIDI plc reversed August’s loss and retrieved its share price back to the €0.24 level.
Meanwhile, turnover in the fixed-income market amounted to over €75.3m. The local sovereign bonds were the most liquid as 552 deals worth just under €73.3m were negotiated. The 3.6% MGS 2013 (IV) was the most active issue for the month as trading volume exceeded 20m nominal. In the corporate bonds market, a total of 160 deals worth over €2m were struck.