BOV shares rally as bank reports strong results

MSE Trading Report for week ending March 23, 2018

The MSE Equity Total Return Index continued its recent recovery as it posted solid gains of 1.67%, closing at 8,805.842 points. A total of 21 equities were active during the week of which gainers amounted to eight while another six equities traded lower. Total turnover during the week amounted to €2.23 million over 237 transactions.

On Friday, Bank of Valletta plc announced that the board has approved the audited financial statements for the 15-month period from October 1, 2016 to December 31, 2017. The group’s profit before tax for the period was €174.7 million, compared with €145.9 million for the 12-months to September 2016. The board further resolved to recommend for the approval of the annual general meeting, the payment of a final net dividend of €0.052 per share, payable on May 18, 2018 to shareholders on the Bank’s share register as at close of business on April 10, 2018. Furthermore, shareholders shall be offered the right to elect to receive the dividend either in cash or by the issue of new shares. The equity enjoyed a strong week particularly yesterday as it was up by a substantial 3.83% over the week to €1.90 across 70 deals of 492,720 shares.

HSBC Bank Malta plc on the other hand posted a minimal loss of 0.54%, closing at €1.85. The equity traded 17 times as 55,429 shares changed hands.

After market close on Friday, March 16, Lombard Bank Malta plc announced that the National Development and Social Fund of Malta has agreed to acquire a 49.01% stake in the bank from Cyprus Popular Bank Public Co. Ltd., subject to approval from the relevant authorities. The equity was the best performer of the week as its share price soared 20% higher to €2.40, as a result of five of trades of 8,266 shares.

Yesterday, FIMBank p.l.c. announces that it has been granted approval by the Listing Authority for the Prospectus submitted and has received authorisation for the admissibility to listing on the Official List of the Malta Stock Exchange of up to 209,687,428 new ordinary shares in the Company having a nominal value of USD0.50 which will be issued as a result of a rights issue to the shareholders on the Register of the Company at the Central Securities Depository of the Malta Stock Exchange as at March 22, 2018. Such shareholders shall be entitled to subscribe to 2 new ordinary shares for every 3 ordinary shares in their possession at the Record Date at a subscription price of USD0.55. If subscribed to in full at the Offer Price, the Rights Issue will raise gross proceeds of USD115,328,085. Any lapsed rights from the Rights Issue will be offered to Financial Intermediaries during an Intermediaries Offer. Furthermore United Gulf Holding Company B.S.C., (UGH) has, by means of an underwriting agreement, undertaken in favour of the Bank to subscribe to such number of new ordinary shares under the Rights Issue not subscribed to during the Intermediaries Offer. The obligation of UGH under the underwriting agreement is limited to a maximum value of USD105,000,000. The bank’s equity closed unchanged at $0.605 despite recording five transactions of 16,926 shares.

In the telecommunications sector, GO plc closed 1.12% higher at €3.60. Trading volume amounted to 27,236 shares across 14 deals.

Malta International Airport plcwas a drag on the index as it was down 0.81% to €4.90. The equity traded 19 times as 57,595 shares were exchanged.

MaltaPost plctraded flat at €1.90 throughout the week even though 21,944 shares traded across 7 deals.

Similarly, International Hotel Investments plc and SanTumas Shareholdings plc both closed unchanged at €0.62 and €1.50 respectively after trading on slim volumes this week. Similarly, PG plc closed at the previous week’s closing price of €1.38, despite generating a turnover of €62,736.

In the insurance sector,Mapfre Middlesea plc traded 16 times as 46,353 shares changed ownership. The outcome was a solid gain of 4.71%, ending the week at €2.00.

On Friday, GlobalCapital plc announced that it intends to submit an application to the Listing Authority in April 2018 requesting the admissibility to listing of new ordinary shares pursuant to a rights issue. If fully subscribed, the proposed rights issue shall raise a total amount of approximately €6 million, to be used to strengthen the capital levels of the company in the context of the evolving business and regulatory environment. A couple of transactions of a combined 1,010 shares recorded on Wednesday dragged the equity price down by 7.89% to €0.35.

RS2 Software plc continued its positive trend as it rallies by another 5.71% to €1.48, as a result of 24 transactions of 95,980 shares.

In the food and beverages sector, Simonds Farsons Cisk plc shares traded four times as volume totalled 7,400 shares. The equity closed at €7.00, translating to a 0.72% gain.

On Friday, Grand Harbour Marina plc announced that its board will meet on April 20, 2018 to consider, and if deemed appropriate, approve the financial statements for 2017. The equity was not active this week.

Medserv plc recovered a portion of the previous week’s loss by climbing 1.79% to €1.14 across six deals of 43,080 deals.

On Tuesday,Plaza Centres plc announced that the group’s profit after tax for 2017 increased to €1.27 million, which is in line with the previous year's profit figure. This is the first time that the Group’s results include a full 12 months contribution from Tigne Place Limited. Operating profit after depreciation however was 15.35% higher at €2.18 million. The group registered a 20% increase in revenue over the previous year, reaching €3.28 million. Operating costs were up by over 30% to €1,096,675 in 2017, due to higher administrative, marketing and maintenance costs. The Directors recommend the payment of a final net dividend of €831,115, equivalent to €0.0294 per share, and if approved at the annual general meeting on May 30, will be paid on June 6, 2018 to shareholders on the group’s share register as at April 30, 2018. In the aftermath of the announcement, the equity increased by 1.96% to €1.04 as a result of five deals of a combined 85,100 shares.

On Wednesday, MIDI plc announced that the board is scheduled to meet on April 23, 2018 to consider and approve the audited financial statements for 2017. The board shall also consider the declaration of dividend to be recommended to the Annual General Meeting, to be held on June 27, 2018. The equity traded 12 times this week closing unchanged at €0.346.

Similarly, Trident Estates plc traded flat at €1.85 across 3 deals of 2,101 shares.

Also in the property sector,Malita Investments plc drifted 1.83% lower to €0.805. Trading volume amounted to 120,700 shares over 11 transactions.

On Wednesday, Malta Properties Company plc announced that the group's profit after tax was €4.6 million, up by 82.8% from the figure for 2016 of €2.6 million. Operating profit however declined by 29% in 2017 to €1.8 million from the €2.5 million registered in the previous year. An 84% increase in administrative expenses was partially responsible for this decline as it did not result in a parallel rise in rental income, which was in fact marginally lower at €3.1 million. The decline was offset by a positive adjustment arising from the fair valuation of property of just under €5 million, compared to the previous year's figure of €1.7 million. Consequently, the earnings per share figure for 2017 was €0.05, significantly higher than the €0.03 of 2016. The board also recommended to the Annual General Meeting that no dividend will be paid. The equity was down 4% to €0.48 as 20,900 shares were exchanged across five deals.

A single trade of 30,000 Tigne Mall plc shares shaved 2% off the price of the equity – down to €0.98.

In the corporate debt market a total of 38 issues were active of which, 17 headed higher while 14 headed in the opposite direction. The 5% GlobalCapital plc Unsecured € 2021 headed the list of gainers as it traded 4.14% higher to close at €99.97. On a negative note, the 5.5% Mediterranean Investments Holding plc Unsecured € 2020 was the worst performer as the bond price decreased by 1.89%, to close at €104.

Meanwhile, in the local sovereign debt market, yields were down, particularly for the longer dated securities, as out of a total of 24 active issues, 18 headed higher and six closed in the red.

Topping the list of gainers was the longest dated MGS, the 2.4% MGS 2041(I) r which advanced by 1.88% to close at €108.50.