Local bourse rises above the 5,000 level

Weekly Round-Up — 4th — 11th January 2008

Local bourse rises above the 5,000 level

The Malta Stock Exchange Index gained 0.8% in its first full trading week of the year to close at 5,028.20 points. Largest share price gains were registered in Crimsonwing’s shares (which traded for the first time on Tuesday’s session), followed by HSBC Bank Malta’s shares. On the other hand Simonds Farsons Cisk and GO shares were the worst performers on a week-on-week basis.

A total of 343 deals were registered on the stock exchange for a turnover above €5.51 million. In the equity market 263 deals were executed for a traded value of €1.24 million, while 71 transactions were performed in local corporate bonds and government stocks for a turnover just above Lm1 million. In addition, 9 deals were executed in Treasury Bills for a value of €737,860.

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On Tuesday, Crimsonwing shares were traded for the first time ever soaring 20%, from €0.50 to €0.60 on high activity. In the following session its share price retreated by €0.02 and lost a further €0.03 on Friday, however it still managed to close 10% higher on a weekly basis at €0.55. The total volume traded in such equity amounted to 116,175 shares which were transacted across eighteen deals for a total turnover of €69,583.

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In the banking sector, HSBC Bank Malta was the only positive performer of the week seeing its shares rise from €4.76 to €4.99, equivalent to 4.8% increase. This was attained on a volume of 68,854 shares which changed hands across seventy-two deals and with the highest price traded at being €4.995. On the other hand, Lombard Bank slumped by 5.9% to close at €13.60 on a mere volume of 1,210 shares. FIMBank edged marginally lower (0.11%) to end the week at US$1.768 as just below 36,000 shares were transacted across nine transactions. On Friday, Bank of Valletta had its share price adjusted to reflect the bonus issue of 1 share for every 4.925 shares. The equity’s share price however effectively dropped by 1.7% on the week to close at €6.71, as 72,410 shares changed hands across 124 deals.

The worst equity performer was Simonds Farsons Cisk which saw its share price slump by 6.3% and close at the €2.40 level. This was attained on a volume of 20,438 shares which were traded over seven deals. Moreover, GO shares closed in the red having declined by 2.9%, from €3.141 to €3.05 during a week in which 34,925 shares traded across twenty deals. Additionally, Malta International Airport shed 1.3% to close at €3.22, its highest weekly traded price, on a mere volume of 4,257 shares.

On the other hand, Medserv was a positive performer on a weekly basis having advanced 1.2% to close at €4.15 on a mere volume of 3,105 shares, which were negotiated over two deals. Plaza Centres’ also closed in positive territory having edged 0.13% higher to close at €1.563 on a single deal of 1,200 shares. Middlesea Insurance was also active during the week, having just 969 shares traded over three deals to close 0.2% higher at €3.85.

Turning onto the local bonds market, thirty four deals were executed for a total turnover of €265,442 in corporate bonds, while a traded value of €737,860 was registered in Malta Government Stocks. In this latter sector, thirteen stocks were negotiated over the week most of which recorded price increases.

Meanwhile, the Government of Malta announced on 8 January 2008 that it will be disposing of the remaining shares held in MaltaPost plc through an Initial Public Offering. A total of 11,200,000 ordinary shares, currently held by the Government of Malta and Malta Government Investments Limited, are being made available for subscription at a price of €0.50 per share.

-A pre-placement exercise for up to a maximum of 45% of the total share offer (i.e. 5,040,000 shares) will take place on Monday 14 January. The remaining shares and any shares not acquired during the pre-placement will be made available during the General Public Offering which opens on Tuesday 15 January and closes on Friday 18 January or earlier in the case of over-subscription.

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]