MSE Weekly Round-Up Report: 29th October — 2nd November 2007

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MSE Index advances 1.8%

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The local bourse advanced 1.8% during a week which was characterised by heavy trading in Bank of Valletta shares following last week’s publication of financial results. Both large local banks, HSBC Bank Malta and Bank of Valletta, together with the other large cap Maltacom in fact registered gains to push the MSE Index to 4,938.54 points.

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A total of 473 deals were registered on the local bourse for a turnover of nearly Lm5.63 million. In the equity market, 397 deals were executed for a traded value of Lm951,364, while 70 transactions were performed in local corporate bonds and government stocks for a turnover above Lm4.32 million. In addition, five deals were executed in Treasury Bills for a value of Lm354,655.

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Bank of Valletta accounted for sixty-five percent of the turnover on the stock exchange after the Group’s announced record profits last week. On its first trading day following the results BOV’s share price gained 3.7% to reach the Lm3.743 level. In the following session however it retrieved by 5c3, to gain back 1c on Wednesday and close at Lm3.70. On Thursday the equity maintained this price, before dropping 2c to Lm3.68 in the last session of the week. This was equivalent to a 1.9% rise on the week, even though some might have expected a steeper rise following the announcement of such financial results.

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HSBC Bank Malta was the week’s top equity performer having gained 4.8% to move close to the Lm2.00 level, at Lm1.98. Over 80,000 shares were traded across seventy-four transactions with the weekly high and low prices being Lm1.99 and Lm1.89 respectively.

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Also within the banking sector, FIMBank and Lombard Bank were actively traded. FIMBank closed in negative terrain having slumped by 10% down to US$1.80 on thin activity. In fact, this was attained on a volume of 3,800 shares which were transacted over two deals. Lombard Bank also closed in negative territory however the decline was marginal. The equity’s price closed 0c1 or 0.02% lower on a weekly basis at Lm5.489 having traded a mere 150 shares over a single transaction.

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Maltacom registered a 0.4% increase on a week-on-week basis to close at Lm1.40 during which the weekly high and low prices traded at were Lm1.41 and Lm1.385 respectively. This was registered on a volume of 19,000 shares which changed hands across eighteen deals. During the week, Maltacom also announced that it will be paying a net dividend of 1c5 per share on 21st November 2007.  On the other hand, Middlesea Insurance shed 2.2% or 3c5 to end the week at Lm1.56, having traded 990 shares over three deals.

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The remaining active equities all closed stable. Malta International Airport had nearly 15,000 shares transacted across fifteen trades to close at Lm1.40, while Simonds Farsons Cisk remained at the Lm1.10 level on a volume of nearly 20,000 shares. Moreover, GlobalCapital traded 7,500 shares over four deals to close unchanged at Lm1.80, while on Friday 6PM Holdings recouped the £0.001 lost in Monday’s session to close unchanged at £0.73 on a weekly basis. Worth mentioning is the fact that this was attained on a strong volume of 192,358 shares which were negotiated across four deals.

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Turning onto the local bonds market, trading was heavy in Malta Government Stocks with the total turnover exceeding Lm4.26 million, after having seen sixteen issues traded. This strong turnover was mainly due to the fact that a volume of Lm3 million was performed in the 5.7% MGS 2012 Fungibility Issue October 2007. With regard to the corporate bond sector, eleven bonds were traded for a turnover of Lm61,118.

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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]