Local Weekly Round Up – 20th -27th October 2006

Local Weekly Round Up — 13th – 20th October 2006

The MSE Index declined by 0.62% this week to end at 5,099.758 points. 12 equities traded, 8 of which were gainers, 3 were losers while the other equities remained stable. There were 481 deals placed this week in the equity market, for a total value of Lm1,786,061. HSBC was the most traded equity with regards to value and accounted for 16.49% of the total value, while BOV was the second most traded equity accounting for 11.92%, even though such percentages are low when compared to normal. In fact, Maltacom was heavily traded this week as it accounted for 8.39% of the total value traded.

The best performer of the week was Middlesea Insurance as it gained 5.45% on a week-on-week basis. The equity increased by 11c from last Friday’s close and closed at Lm2.13 this week. The equity traded 5,884 shares across 10 deals.

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GlobalCapital also performed positively and increased by 4.48% to close at Lm2.33. The equity price gained 10c in the first two sessions of the week and did not trade in the consequent sessions. 22,356 shares changed hands over 35 deals for a value of Lm51,343.

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BOV equity trading was low on activity this week as shareholders awaited the announcement of financial results of the Group and Bank, to be approved in today’s Annual General Meeting. The Board also had to consider the declaration of a final dividend. Notwithstanding this, the equity gained a mere 0.76% on a week-on-week basis to close at the Lm4.00 level. The share price rose marginally (0c1) on Monday and gained a further 2c1 on Thursday to increase by another cent in the final session of the week.

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Few minutes after the trading session closed, the financial results for BOV were announced. The Board Directors approved the final audited financial statements for the financial year ended 30th September 2006 and resolved that these statements be submitted for the approval of the shareholders at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting scheduled for Wednesday 20th December 2006. The Board of Directors further resolved to recommend that the AGM approves the payment of a final Gross Dividend per share of Lm0.11 making for a Net Dividend per share of Lm0.0715, and which if approved by the AGM would make for a total Gross Dividend per share for the year of Lm0.165. The Group’s profit before tax increased by 44.31% while the Bank’s profit rose 46.04% when compared to the same period of last year.

Medserv started trading on the Malta Stock Exchange this week as the volume of shares traded stood at 86,550. The equity remained stable at Lm1.30 throughout the first four sessions to gain 2c in the final session of the week and close 1.54% higher.

IHI gained 1.04%. It lost €0.01 on Tuesday however rallied on Wednesday to increase by €0.02 and close higher at €0.97, following the announcement of its half-yearly financial statements as at 30th June 2006. As noted from the reports, the losses before tax reduced from €4,885,956 to €3,331,993 for the same period last year; this equivalent to a 31.80% reduction.

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Plaza, FIMBank and MIA were the other gainers of the week as they all edged upwards by 0.15%, 0.06% and 0.73% respectively.

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Maltacom was the week’s worst performer as it lost 4.91%. The equity lost 3c on Monday, remained stable in the three following sessions to lose a further 5c today and close at Lm1.55. Activity was high as it traded 94,473 shares across 65 deals over the week.

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HSBC ended in negative territory after a mixed performance throughout the week. The share price shed 2c9 on Monday and a further 4c on Tuesday to rally on Wednesday and Thursday as it increased back by 7c9. The last session of the week however was negative as the share price dropped by 3c5c to close 1.64% lower on a week-on-week basis.

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Lombard also reported a minor drop in its share price. It declined by 0.21% to close at Lm4.80, a cent lower than last week’s price.

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Datatrak was the other equity to trade however remained unchanged at Lm0.31.