MSE Trading Report for week ending August 9, 2013

 

Following last week’s slip-off, banking equities emerged as an integral part in pushing the Malta Stock Exchange (MSE) Index to a notable weekly gain of 1.4 per cent, thus reaching a year-to-date appreciation of 8.8 per cent. In fact, all active banks proved to be a key support towards the broader market, with Bank of Valletta plc shares being the best performers. Furthermore, HSBC Bank Malta plc closed higher following its encouraging interim financial results, while Crimsonwing plc and RS2 Software plc maintained their recent upbeat tone by touching all time record highs. Conversely, both Malta International Airport plc and GO plc experienced selling pressure by registering notable declines.

 

Turnover for the week increased to €815,862 traded over 13 equities of which gainers outperformed losers, as nine gathered support, two lurched lower, while International Hotels Investments plc and Medserv plc were the non-movers for the week, closing at flat positions of €0.89 and €3.70 respectively.

 

Meanwhile, investors upheld their risk-positioning approach in the domestic sovereign front, mainly in the last two trading sessions, as enthusiasm within global markets re-emerged following three days of negative returns. In fact, out of the 23 active stocks, 18 declined in value as investors fetched more attractive returns. Total turnover for the week reached just over €10.4m.

 

In the fixed-income corporate front, nominal volume traded touched over 1.1m across 15 issues, with the Global Capital plc issue marking the best performance with a 3.7 per cent gain.

 

In the banking sector, all active equities were renewed with buying interest following their recent volatility. In fact, Bank of Valletta plc emerged as the prime gainer for the week as its share price soared by just over three per cent to close the week at €2.39, despite touching intra-week lows of €2.319. The bank’s share price rose exponentially in the last three sessions of the week on a volume of 51,791 shares. 

 

 

Likewise, HSBC Bank Malta plc shares managed to re-capture investors’ enthusiasm by recording a 1.8 per cent rise, despite initial investors skepticism  over the Bank’s performance for the first six months of 2013, were profit before tax was registered at €53m, thus in line with 2012 figures. In fact, the equity managed to gain €0.048 even though it headed 1.1 per cent lower on Tuesday as investors might have negatively digested the fact that its interim profits failed to increase when compared to previous years. However, Tuesday’s loss was recouped over the subsequent sessions to close the week at €2.749. The board of directors also declared a net dividend of €0.065, thus in line with last year’s affirmed dividend payment.

 

Similarly, both Lombard Bank plc and FIMBank plc were noted on the list of gainers. The former gained 2.7 per cent on Wednesday to close at €1.90, while the latter rebounded from last week’s decline as it gathered just over one per cent, thus re-moving towards the $1.00 price level.

 

On a similar positive note, I.T. equities continued to display some solid gains with both Crimsonwing plc and RS2 Software plc touching new record highs. The former extended its streak of gains by recording a further 5.8 per cent appreciation over three sessions to close at €0.73, while the latter locked a weekly gain of €0.05 over 73,828 shares to reach a new high of €1.35.   

 

Meanwhile, the other listed I.T. equity, 6pm Holdings plc, released its interim financials results, in which it stated that profit before tax increased by 36 per cent when compared to the same period last year. The board of directors did not recommend a dividend payment.

 

Following three consecutive weeks of losses, Maltapost plc managed to recover some ground by registering a one per cent appreciation during a single session to close at €1.01.

 

Furthermore, Simonds Farsons Cisk plc and Malita Investments plc were also noted among the gainers for the week. The beverage equity gained 1.8 per cent over a single trade of 4,700 shares to close at €2.80, while the special purpose vehicle captured an advancement of just below two per cent to re-touch the €0.52 price level.

 

 

Finally, the losers for the week were GO plc and Malta International Airport plc. The telecommunications equity drifted 1.8 per cent lower over eight trades to close at €1.62, while the latter experienced a shave-off just below two per cent to close at the €2.00 price level despite registering positive results for the first six months of 2013.

 

On Wednesday, the airport operator announced that profit before tax for the first six months of 2013 increased to €5.1m, thus a 14.1 per cent increase when compared to the €4.8m recorded in the same comparable period last year. It was also noted that the Group’s turnover for the period under review increased remarkably to €25.2, reflected by the increase in passenger movements and the increase in non-aviation revenue from the subsidiary companies. The board of directors also declared a net interim dividend of €0.03.