MSE Weekly Round-Up Report: 7th -11th May 2007

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Middlesea Insurance and Medserv shares post gains

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It has been a negative week for the local bourse as eight of the twelve active equities posted losses on a week-on-week basis. The MSE Index dropped for four consecutive sessions, only to recoup part of the losses in Friday’s session. The main losers were Bank of Valletta (BOV), Maltacom and Malta International Airport (MIA), while Middlesea Insurance and Medserv were the only equities to register gains.

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A total of 182 deals were executed in the equity market for a value traded of Lm478,453, 50 deals were performed in the local corporate bond market for Lm253,656, while 61 transactions were executed in Malta Government Stocks (MGS) for a turnover of over Lm9 million. With regard to government stocks, one however notes that a single transaction worth over Lm7 million was executed in the 5.75% MGS maturing in 2010.

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Middlesea Insurance was the top equity performer of the week having gained 2.70% or 5c on Friday’s session to close at the Lm1.90 level. This was however attained on low activity with a mere 1,000 shares changing hands over two deals. In addition, two transactions for a volume of 3,000 shares, was enough to push Medserv 2.04% higher and close the week at the price of Lm1.50.

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On the other hand, MIA was the worst equity performer of the week losing 3.23% on a weekly basis to close at the Lm1.35 level. Its share price dropped 4c5 on Wednesday’s session to recover 1c over the last two sessions of the week. Activity was low as just 3,600 shares were transacted across five deals.

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In the banking sector, BOV, Lombard Bank and FIMBank all registered declines in their share price. BOV ended the week 3.11% down, losing 0c8 on Monday, 9c on Tuesday and a further 10c on Wednesday. It however managed to recoup 9c in the following session a further 1c on Friday to close at Lm3.68. During the week, over 65,000 shares were traded across sixty transactions in BOV shares.

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Trading in Lombard Bank was only performed in the last session of the week, with 3,450 shares changing hands across eleven transactions. The equity however declined by 2.04% to close the week 10c lower at the Lm4.80 level. FIMBank on the other hand, shed 0.26% across two transactions which saw 7,842 shares transact, to close at US$1.945.

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HSBC Bank Malta was the only equity in the banking industry to close unchanged from last week’s closing price. The equity declined by 4c5 on Thursday however immediately recouped the loss in the following session to close the week stable (Lm1.90). The high and low prices traded throughout the week were Lm1.95 and Lm1.90 respectively.

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Maltacom was amongst the equities to close in the red as its share price dropped 2.68% and closed at Lm1.45. Nearly 4,600 shares were traded across nine deals during the week, with Tuesday’s and Friday’s sessions proving to be unfavourable for the equity’s price. Furthermore, GlobalCapital decreased 2.56% as it lost 5c to close at Lm1.90. In total five transactions were executed with 2,644 shares changing hands.

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International Hotel Investments and Grand Harbour Marina also closed in negative territory, as the former equity shed 0.92% while the latter dropped by 0.66% on a single transaction of 1,000 shares. Their respective closing prices were EUR1.08 and Lm0.75.

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On Monday, GHM announced the approval of its financial statements for the year ended 31st December 2006, in which it was reported that the company recorded a profit before tax of Lm491,236. The earning per share was equal to Lm0.03.

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Moreover, three transactions were executed in Simonds Farsons Cisk at Lm0.85, to be the only active equity to close the week unchanged.

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This article which was compiled by Jesmond Mizzi Financial Services Limited (JMFS) does not intend to give investment advice and the contents therein should not be construed as such. JMFS is licensed to conduct investment services by the MFSA. The directors or related parties, including the company, and their clients are likely to have an interest in securities mentioned in this article. For further information please contact JFMS at 67/3 South Street Valletta or on tel:  21224410 or email [email protected]