Banking equities surge in value
MSE
Trading Report for week ending November 5, 2010
Banking
equities surge in value
The Malta Stock Exchange Index continued on last week’s positive
sentiment, having closed the week at 3,471.142 points. On Monday the Index
registered a rise of 4.56 per cent, rising from 3,374 to 3,528 followed by a marginal
increase of 0.019 per cent on Tuesday and three consecutive days of declines. This
brought the week-on-week gain to 2.87 per cent and a year-to-date increase of
0.31 per cent. Trading activity this week rose from 501 trades to 700 trades,
for a total value amounting to Eur8.09m despite no activity in the Treasury Bills market.
Turnover in the equity market almost doubled this week with a total value of over Eur1.21m
over 266 deals, with over 65% traded in Bank
Of Valletta plc shares. Notwithstanding this rise, securities traded have
been declining over the past weeks. In fact, nine equities were active with six
gaining ground, two closing lower and one equity remaining unchanged. In the Government Stock market, value traded reached an amount of Eur6.20m, which was executed across
355 deals, compared to last week’s Eur5.24m on 266 transactions. In the Corporate Bond market the nominal amount
of 657,224 was dealt over 99 trades, for a value reaching Eur674,022.
It was a positive week for the banking
sector, as all banking equities traded closed the week in positive territory. The
best performer was Lombard Bank plc,
with a hefty appreciation of 10.8 per cent. This rise was mainly registered on
Monday when the bank closed the session 10 per cent higher. In total, 51,943
shares changed hands over 21 deals, closing the week at Eur2.77 thus reducing
the year-to-date loss to 7.36%.
Conversely, Loqus Holdings plc registered an astounding loss of 43.75 per cent
on Tuesday, declining from its previous closing price of Eur0.32 to Eur0.18, as
the equity saw 6,824 shares change hands on three deals.
The share price of Bank of Valletta plc (BOV) registered a gain of 7.46 per cent,
closing at Eur3.60, this week’s lowest trading price although the equity
reached a high of Eur4.00. On Monday, BOV’s share price closed at Eur3.70 from Eur3.35,
a rise of 10.45 per cent, following the positive annual results achieved by the
Bank of Valletta Group on Friday. The equity retreated marginally on Tuesday,
fell 1.32% on Wednesday and by 1.64% during yesterday’s session. Total trades
amounted to 210,392 shares with a value of Eur787,428 on 174 deals.
HSBC
Bank Malta plc (HSBC) continued to recoup from its
year-to-date loss, as this week its share price rose by 3.54 per cent. The
equity registered a volume of 65,444 shares across 35 transactions, as the
share price closed the week at Eur2.899, an increase of Eur0.099. HSBC’s
performance this week almost trailed the performance of the Index, having
gained 7.14 per cent on Monday, declining from Wednesday to Friday, with the
only difference being on Tuesday, having closed the session unchanged.
GO
plc shares registered a rise during yesterday’s
session, closing at Eur1.88, an increase of 0.53 per cent, having closed
unchanged on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. A total of 22,440 shares were
executed across 16 deals.
Middlesea
Insurance plc was the only equity to close the week flat
at Eur1.00, as 10,000 shares changed hands over three trades.
On the other hand, International Hotel Investments plc
registered a decline of 2.5 per cent, or Eur0.02 on Monday, while remaining
unchanged on two other trading sessions, with 49,578 shares changing hands on
10 deals, to close the week at Eur0.78.
MaltaPost
plc shares recouped a marginal 0.11 per cent
from last week’s decline of 1.09 per cent, as it registered two deals of 4,137
shares, closing at Eur0.911.
The share price of Malta International Airport plc closed the week at Eur1.649,
edging 0.55 per cent higher yesterday, on two trades of 2,000 shares.
On Thursday, MIDI plc confirmed that the company had
received approval for the issue of ordinary shares in the Company of a nominal
value of Eur0.20 at an issue price of Eur0.45 each. MIDI bondholders as at October
29, 2010 will be given preference by receiving full allotment on the first
6,500 ordinary shares applied for.
Also on Thursday, the
Treasury of Malta announced the prices of the two new fungible issues. The MGS
3.75% 2015 is being offered at Eur103.50, while the MGS 5.25% 2030 is being
offered at Eur101.50. Applications will open on Monday, November 8, 2010 and
close on Wednesday, November 10, 2010.
This article which was compiled by Atlas
JMFS Investment Services Limited, does not intend to give investment advice and
the contents therein should not be construed as such. Atlas JMFS is licensed to
conduct investment services by the MFSA and is a Member Firm of the Malta
Stock Exchange. 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 contact Atlas JMFS at 67, Level 3, South Street, Valletta,
or on Tel: 21224410, or email [email protected]