MSE Trading Report for week ending May 11, 2018

The MSE Equity Total Return Index fell by 0.41% this week, closing at 8,436.141 points giving back some of  last week’s advancement. A total of 20 equities were active, as gainers and fallers were balanced at seven a piece. Total turnover was higher at €1.3 million, compared to the previous week’s figure of €0.9 million.

The most liquid equity was Bank of Valletta plc as 99,485 shares were exchanged across 45 transactions. The equity hit a low of €1.70 on Thursday following the Annual General Meeting, before bouncing back on Friday to close at €1.75, translating to a weekly gain of 1.16%.

At the Annual General Meeting, all resolutions on the agenda were approved, including the financial statements for the period ended December 31, 2017, and the gross final dividend of €0.08 per share.

The bank also announced that the total number of shares subscribed for under the optional Scrip Dividend Programme was 5,772,064 shares, translating to 35.25% of the total potential issue of new shares under the scrip dividend.

All the other equities in the banking industry moved in the opposite direction, led by FIMBank plc which slipped 4.72% to €0.505. A total of six trades of a combined 68,508 shares were recorded, all executed during mid-week.

On Tuesday, FIMBank announced the final results of the rights issue, where at the closing of the intermediaries offer, a total of 196,703 lapsed rights were bought at $0.55, while another 9,000 shares were bought at $0.56. Trading in the new shares on the Malta Stock Exchange is expected to commence on Tuesday, May 15, 2018. The remaining 10,594,894 shares shall be allotted to United Gulf Holding Company B.S.C. as agreed in the underwriting agreement between FIMBank and the said company.

On Wednesday, the bank held its Annual General Meeting in which the audited accounts for 2017 were officially approved. The AGM also approved the re-appointment of the auditors, the appointment of directors and their maximum aggregate emoluments.

Similarly, HSBC Bank Malta plc erased last week’s gain by drifting 2.31%, settling at a price of €1.69 as trading volume totalled 42,473 shares over 17 deals.

Lombard Bank Malta plc followed suit, as it posted falls of 1.69%, to €2.32. This was the outcome of six trades of 39,337 shares.

In the telecommunications sector, GO plc registered an identical performance to the previous week, as the share price advanced by another 0.58% to reach €3.48. In total, 21,270 shares changed ownership across nine deals.

On a negative note, International Hotel Investment plc shares closed the week in the red as the equity lost 3.1% of its value to close the session at €0.625. This was the result of a couple of deals of 20,000 shares.

On Monday, Malta international Airport plc published its traffic results for the month of April, showing a total of 591,283 passenger movements. The positive trend of the previous months was extended to April as well, as aircraft movements and seat capacity saw an increase of 18.8% and 18.5% respectively during April.  Furthermore, seat load factor stood at 80.1%. The top markets for MIA were the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, France and Spain. The latter registered a 39.7% increase as a result of the launch of three new Spanish routes, and improved flight frequency on the existing Barcelona route.

On Tuesday, the company held its Annual General Meeting in which the annual report for 2017, including the financial statements was approved. The final net dividend of €0.10 per share was also approved during the meeting.

On Friday, after market close, the company announced that its financial performance for the first quarter of 2018 was very positive, surpassing the results of the same period in 2017. Turnover increased by 3.8% to €13.9 million over the previous year, while expenditure increased by 3.9% to €7.9 million. These changes translated to an increase in profit after tax for the period of 6.3%, to €2.6 million.

The equity registered positive performances mid-week, to reach €4.92, 1.65% higher than last week’s closing price. The equity traded heavily as 16 deals were recorded, in which 20,694 shares changed hands.

MaltaPost plctraded at a low of €1.78 on Monday, before recapturing the original €1.80 level mid-week. These were the only two registered transactions of the week, generating a turnover of €22,052.

The insurance company, Mapfre Middlesea plc was the top performer this week, soaring 7.37% to €2.04. The equity traded five times as 6,450 shares traded.

GlobalCapital plcannounced on Thursday that the Annual General Meeting shall be held on Wednesday, June 27, 2018. Further information regarding the meeting shall be communicated at a later date. Three transactions of a combined 5,075 shares were registered this week, lowering the price by 3.03% to €0.32.

The largest decline in share value was recorded by RS2 Software plc as it sank 5.38%. The share price swayed between €1.15 and €1.28 during the week, ultimately closing at €1.23. The equity traded heavily, with 119,840 shares changing ownership over 36 deals.

Simonds Farsons Cisk plc and Medserv plc closed unchanged at €6.70 and €1.10 respectively, despite generating turnovers of €83,750 and €76,127.

Similarly, retail conglomerate PG plc rebounded from a weak start to the week, to close unchanged at €1.31. A total of 123,000 shares traded across 13 deals.

The property sector had a positive week as three equities posted gains. Malta Properties Company plc recorded a solid gain of 3.98%, closing at €0.47 as a result of six deals of 78,860 shares.

MIDI plc traded seven times during the week as 106,000 shares changed hands. The share price recovered from a mid-week slump to close 3.35% higher at €0.37 having traded at a low of €0.31.

Tigne Mall plc posted a more modest gain of 1.05% to close at €0.96, the outcome of a couple of trades of 17,245 shares.

On the other hand, Malita Investments plc was the only equity in the sector to head south, as 11 transactions of 110,294 shares shaved 0.59% off the share price, down to €0.84.

Also in the property sector, two transactions of 26,000 Plaza Centres plc had no bearing on the share price of €1.04.

Similarly, Trident Estates plc traded flat at €1.60 in spite of a deal of 10,000 shares.

In the local sovereign debt market, issues registered mixed performances as 15 issues traded lower and seven gained ground. Yields for the shorter dated bonds were generally up while all the issues maturing in 2034 or later, saw decreases in yields.

In fact, the best performer was the 2.4% MGS 2041 which rose by 0.46% to €108.50. On the other hand, the 5.2% MGS 2031 was the worst performer with a decline of 0.76% to €143.

In the corporate debt market a total of 37 issues were active during the week, as gainers amounted to 16 and fallers tallied to nine.

Last week’s gain registered by the 5% GlobalCapital plc Unsecured € 2021 proved unsustainable as the bond curbed almost all of this advancement by drifting 2.24% lower to €97.50 this week.

At the other end of the spectrum, the 5.75% International Hotel Investments plc Unsecured € 2025 headed the list of gainers with a 2.33% increase in value to €110.