Weekly Round-Up — 18th 22nd February 2008

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Record profits for HSBC

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The Malta Stock Exchange Index edged 0.1% higher to close at 4,719.63 points during a week in which activity was high, especially in HSBC Bank Malta’s, Bank of Valletta’s and FIMBank’s shares which accounted for seventy two per cent of the turnover in the equity market.

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A total of 427 deals were registered on the stock exchange for a turnover above EUR11.7 million. In the equity market 311 deals were executed for a traded value of EUR1.7 million, while 106 transactions were performed in local corporate bonds and government stocks for a turnover just above EUR7 million. In addition, 10 deals were executed in Treasury Bills for EUR3.03 million.

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HSBC Bank Malta’s shares declined by 1% on a week-on-week basis to close at the EUR4.60 level, after having been traded at weekly highs and lows of EUR4.64 and EUR4.278 respectively. This was attained on a volume of 105,370 shares which changed hands across 107 deals. Following the closure of Tuesday’s session, HSBC’s Board of Directors issued the Preliminary Statement of annual results for the financial year ended 31st December 2007, in which it was noted that HSBC and its subsidiaries generated a profit on ordinary activities before tax of €114.70 (Lm49.2) million, an increase of €18.3 (Lm7.8) million or 19%, compared to 2006. Profit attributable to shareholders also increased, by 22% over the previous year’s figure. The Board of Directors also resolved to recommend the approval of a final ordinary dividend of €0.148 (Lm0.064) gross per share, to be paid on 29th April 2008.

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Following the previous week’s 10% decline in Bank of Valletta’s shares, the equity recouped 3.5% this week to close at EUR5.85. This was achieved on a volume of nearly 88,000 shares which were transacted across 116 deals. Also within the banking sector, FIMBank saw 193,480 shares changed hands over eight deals to close unchanged at the US$2.00 level.

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GO advanced a further 1% to close the week at EUR3.08 on a volume just above 49,000 shares. Malta International Airport edged 0.6% higher to EUR3.20 on a volume of 31,389 shares which swapped hands over sixteen deals, while Simonds Farsons Cisk’s shares also added 0.6% on a weekly basis to close at EUR2.375. The top equity performer of the week was however Plaza Centres, which saw its shares rise by 6.3% or EUR0.10 to EUR1.70, having negotiated 11,150 shares across three deals.

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International Hotel Investments on the other hand declined nearly 2% to close at the EUR1.00 level. On Friday, the company however announced that it signed a memorandum of understanding with Libyan Foreign Investments Company for a joint-venture agreement to develop a five-star hotel on the waterfront in central Benghazi, Libya’s second largest city.

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Crimsonwing was among the equities to close in the red, having suffered a 1.2% drop over the previous week. Crimsonwing announced in its interim director’s statement published on Wednesday that the company recorded strong sales performance during the second half of the financial year and is set to achieve the revenue projections. Moreover, it was noted in the statement that there continues to be strong demand across all three business areas — ebusiness, Dynamics and custom solutions. On a negative note however, the overall profitability for Crimsonwing may be negatively impacted by the erosion in the exchange rate of the UK Sterling to the Euro.   

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Back to trading on the local stock exchange, Middlesea Insurance lost 1.4% on a minor deal to close at EUR3.65, while Grand Harbour Marina closed stable at EUR1.73 also on a single transaction. In addition, Maltapost shares shed 0.8% on a volume of 79,902 shares to close at EUR0.66.

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With regard to the bonds market, a total of sixteen government stocks were active, a good number of which declined in their prices. The total turnover in this sector amounted to over EUR5.3 million with the 4.8% MGS 2016 (II) and 5.4% MGS 2010 (IV) registering the highest volumes. On the other hand, a total of fourteen corporate bonds were traded for a value above EUR1.62 million with the 4.6% HSBC Bank Malta 2017 bond accounting for the majority of the traded value registered over the week.

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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]