Daily Market Highlights (06.05.15)

  • The MSE Share Index edged 0.1% higher to 3,818.565 points as the gains in GO, RS2, MaltaPost and Farsons offset the losses in four other equities. Download a copy of today’s Equity Market Summary.
  • On the bond market, the Rizzo Farrugia MGS Index continued to slip and dropped by another 0.6% to 1,150.118 points as benchmark European yields continued to trend higher. The German 10-year yield hit a 2015 high of just under 0.6% – the yield has more than tripled in a week and risen 10-fold in just three weeks. This was reflected on the local bond market with the price of the 3% MGS 2040 declining by a further 154 bp to 112.82%.
  • GO plc rallied by 3.5% to close at a 7-year high of €3.00 on total activity amounting to 18,850 shares. Yesterday afternoon, the telecoms group issued a company announcement indicating that the board has been exploring options that would maximise shareholders’ value in relation to the portfolio of property owned by its wholly-owned subsidiary – Malta Properties Company Limited. The subsidiary owns eleven properties valued at €50 million. GO indicated that one of the options which will be presented to shareholders for their approval is the potential spin-off of the said subsidiary on a pro-rata basis to the shareholders of GO.
  • MaltaPost plc advanced by 2% to a new record high of €1.45 albeit on shallow volumes of 2,995 shares. Next Friday, the postal operator will be publishing its interim results as at 31 March 2015. Similarly, RS2 Software plc climbed by 2.6% to a fresh all-time high of €3.20 on a single deal of 3,000 shares. Today was the last day for investors to be entitled to the final net dividend of €0.044 per share. This dividend will be paid on 15 June after approval at the Annual General Meeting.
  • Meanwhile Simonds Farsons Cisk plc edged up by 0.7% also to a new high of €3.525 on a single deal of 1,000 shares.
  • On the other hand, Bank of Valletta plc erased some of its recent gains as the equity dropped 1.3% to the €2.31 level on activity totalling 54,147 shares. The interim gross dividend of €0.039 per share (net: €0.0254) is payable to all shareholders as at close of trading on 8 May.
  • The share price of Malta International Airport plc closed 0.3% lower at €3.48 on shallow volumes of just over 3,000 shares despite yesterday’s announcement of the positive traffic results for April. The company revealed that it was yet another record month with 392,676 passenger movements, representing an increase of 4.2% over the same month of last year. This was due to an increase of 4.1% in seat capacity. The airport operator reported that the German and the Italian markets were the largest contributors to passenger growth (11.8% and 13.9% respectively), while the British market shrank by 3.1%.
  • The GBP-denominated equity of 6PM Holdings plc slipped by 1.8% to GBP0.75 across four trades totalling 11,500 shares. Meanwhile, a single deal in Lombard Bank Malta plc of 600 shares pushed the bank’s share price down to €1.89 (-0.5%).
  • Also in the banking sector, HSBC Bank Malta plc and FIMBank plc ended the session unchanged at €1.93 and USD0.45 respectively on encouraging volumes.