Weekly Round-Up — 7th April — 11th April 2008

International Hotel Investments reports €14million profit.

The Malta Stock Exchange Index closed lower by 1.31% over the previous week at the 4632 level. Year to date the MSE index is now down 6.21%. Fifteen listed equities were active this week, seven of which closed in positive territory, whilst five closed in negative territory. The week was characterised by two main events, International Hotel Investments results and the staggering fall in the share price of GlobalCapital of 43% over the week.

A total of two hundred and eight deals were registered in the equity market for a turnover EUR1.26 million. Corporate bonds traded reached €218,739 whilst Government Bonds reached €1.67million. Total value traded this week was €1.63 million.

International Hotel Investments (IHI) announced a profit before tax of just over € 14 million for the year ended 31 December 2007 compared to a loss of €10.7 million for the year ended 31 December 2006. The revenue of the Group was up from €60.4 million in 2006 to €104 million in 2007. The Group announced that the performance for 2007 was positively affected by a number of factors, namely; the performance of the existing hotel properties continued to improve both in terms of turnover and profitability; secondly the results include twelve months performance of CHI as compared to two month in 2006 results; thirdly the contribution made by the newly-acquired Corinthia Bab Africa Hotel and adjoining Commercial Centre in Tripoli and Corinthia Hotel Prague. The Directors have decided to recommend to the Annual General Meeting scheduled for 15th May 2008, to issue and allot Bonus shares out of reserves, amounting to three per cent of Members holdings appearing on the Register of Members at close of business on 18th April 2008.

Following the announcement of the results, IHI share price traded higher and gained 1.9% to close at €1.07 having traded at €1.01 on Monday.

The best performer this week was Maltapost which regained some lost ground and closed the week up 7.53% on the week. Turnover in Maltapost reached 57,804 shares on twenty one deals. The equity traded at a low of €0.70 but recover to close at €0.785.

The second best performer was Grand Harbour Marina which ended the week up 7.14% to close at € 2.25. Trading was reasonable as 67,500 shares changed hands in fourteen deals. The good results announced last week continued to have a positive effect on the share price.

The other positive performers of the week were; GO (up 0.03%), Plaza (up 1.80%), FIMBank (up 0.79%), and 6pm (up 1.39%). Plaza traded once and 64,100 shares changed hands at €1.70 per share. FIMBank which was very active the previous week traded nine times as volume traded reached 46,278 shares. GO, on Friday held their Tenth Annual General Meeting and approved all resolutions on the agenda and appointed/elected the directors of the company.

6pm Holdings plc, on Friday afternoon, published their Preliminary Profit Statements which were approved by the Board of Directors. The Company announced that during the five month period ended 31 December 2007, the group registered a profit before tax of GBP275,881. This represents a return of 15% of the shareholders’ funds. The Board of Directors declared the payment of a net interim dividend in 2008 of GBP100,988 on 2007 group results, representing a net dividend of 45% of distributable profits equivalent to GBP0.013 per share. The dividend will be paid to shareholders on the company’s register at close of trading on the MSE on 25 April 2008.

The most active equity this week was Bank of Valletta plc which traded sixty three times as 106,485 shares changed hands. The share prices traded between €5.45 and €5.64, at which it closed the week resulting in a fall of 4.22% over the week. There seems to be no clear directions in the share price of BOV as investors await the meeting of the Board of directors set for 29th April, to approve the results of the first six months to 31st March 2008.

HSBC Bank Malta plc also ended the week in negative territory as the share price fell by 0.11% over the week. Thirty four trades were executed as volume traded reached 29,460 shares.

The worst performer this week was GlobalCapital, as five trades totalling 2,029 shares changed hands as the price fell to €2.93 from last weeks’ close of €5.15. This followed the results announced last week by the Group, which reported a substantial fall in profits.

The other negative performers of the week were Middlesea Insurance which fell by 0.17% and Malta International Airport which fell by 0.6%. Trading in both equities was low.

In the bond market, twelve corporate bonds were active whilst nineteen government bonds traded this week. Thirty four percent value of the government bonds traded was executed in the 5% MGS 20121(1), as the price of the bond fell slightly over the week.

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]