Local equities continue to gain ground
MSE Trading Report for week ending February 20, 2015
The MSE Index extended last week’s gain by a further one per cent as 11 out of the 15 active equities ended the week in positive territory reaching a turnover of €1.35m.
Gains registered in both leading banks contributed to this week’s gain in the local equity index. Trading in Bank of Valletta plc dominated the platform with 76 trades worth almost €522k executed, to end the week up 1.5 per cent at €2.111. Meanwhile, 21 deals in HSBC Bank Malta plc pushed its share price up one per cent to €2.02 on a turnover of €170k as investors await the financial results for 2014 which will be reported on Monday.
On the other hand, Lombard Bank Malta plc (Lombard) and FIMBank plc were the only two equities to end the week in the red. In fact, three trades of 2,923 shares in Lombard shed half a per cent bringing its price down to €1.90 – recovering from a weekly low of €1.85. FIMBank plc shares dropped by a hefty 9.3 per cent to US$0.49, on six deals of 29,119 shares.
This week’s best performer was Plaza Centres plc having soared by 19.7 per cent or €0.14 to a new record high of €0.85 on the highest volume for the week of 275,423 shares worth €214k. A new high of €2.61 was also reached in the share price of Malta International Airport plc on 22 deals worth €145k thus registering a 3.6 per cent gain. After close of trading on Monday, the Company reported that it has been ranked the fourth best in Europe according to the 2014 Airport Service Quality (ASQ) Awards. Furthermore, the airport obtained its best score ever, with an overall passenger satisfaction score of 4.22 on a scale from one (poor) to five (excellent).
Meanwhile, a 5.5 per cent gain was registered in Malita Investments plc as 67,000 shares changed hands to close at an all-time high of €0.77. Next Thursday, the Company’s Board of Directors is scheduled to meet to approve the company’s financial statements for the financial year ended December 31, 2014 and to consider the declaration of a final dividend.
Still on the positive side, MaltaPost plc also reached an all-time high of €1.36 on a volume of 9,480 shares, marking a 0.74 per cent gain. A single deal of 2,321 shares in Simonds Farsons Cisk plc lifted its share price up 1.63 per cent to another all-time high of €3.12.
Meanwhile, six deals of 253,000 shares in MIDI plc locked a 1.73 per cent gain to end the week at €0.235. Trading in GO plc saw a fluctuation in its share price between a low of €2.60 and a high of €2.70 to finally end the week at €2.67 thus advancing by 0.75 per cent on the week.
A correction of 1.61 per cent was seen in the share price of International Hotel Investments plc as four deals of 18,164 shares were executed to close at €0.63.On Tuesday, the company issued its preliminary unaudited results for 2014 and the 2015 budgets. The company issued a detailed analysis of the performance of each hotel and business units and the company’s outlook for 2015.
Finally, a one per cent gain was registered in the share price of Middlesea Insurance plc as seven deals of 12,773 shares were executed to end the week at €1.01.
Two single deals in Island Hotels Group Holdings plc and Grand Harbour Marina plc kept their share price flat at €1.029 and €1.75 respectively.
Throughout the week, the sovereign debt market witnessed a turnover of just under €25.9 million spread across 26 issues of which 25 fell marginally, while one edged higher. The 4.1% MGS 2034 (I) was the most liquid issue as it witnessed a turnover of €6.4 million.
On Thursday, the Treasury announced the prices of the Maltese Government Stocks which will be offer to the public as of Monday till Wednesday or earlier at the discretion of the Accountant General. The 2% MGS 2020 (V) F.I. (March 2015) is being offered at €105.75 thus having a yield to maturity of 0.937% while the 3% MGS 2040(I) is being offered at €100.
In the corporate bond market turnover was at the €1.5 million level slightly lower than last week. A total of 33 issues were active of which six fell in value, 12 gained ground and another 15 closed unchanged. The 5% Halmann Vella Group plc Secured Bonds € 2024 registered the highest turnover of €235K, to close at €105.