Daily Market Highlights (07.05.13)

  • The MSE Share Index edged 0.6% higher to 3,353.049 points following gains registered in the share prices of IHI and HSBC. FIMBank and Malita also closed higher while BOV dropped as it turned ex-dividend. Download a copy of the Equity Market Summary .
  • On the bond market, the Rizzo Farrugia MGS Index partially recovered from yesterday’s decline and edged minimally higher to 1,023.551 points. The market now awaits the announcement of the details of the new Malta Government Stock issues expected this month.
  • The share price of International Hotel Investments plc continued to trade higher and advanced by 4.6% this morning to close the day at a new 2013 high of €0.889. Yesterday afternoon the company issued its Interim Directors Statement confirming that it is negotiating the sale of the 12 residences in London. IHI also reported improved performances at the hotels in Budapest and London with the latter registering a €2 million improvement over the same period in 2012. The performance of the hotels in Malta and Portugal were unchanged over Q1 2012 while the property in Tripoli is still being impacted by higher costs being in anticipation of a full recovery of the Libyan economy.
  • HSBC Bank Malta plc also edged minimally higher to regain the €2.61 level on continued low volumes totalling 10,000 shares.
  • Meanwhile, Bank of Valletta plc closed 1.1% lower at €2.235 after recovering from an intra-day low of €2.20. A total of 24,886 shares traded today. As from today, the equity traded without the entitlement to the interim gross dividend of €0.06 per share (€0.039 per share after tax). The interim dividend will now be paid on 24 May.
  • Volumes in FIMBank plc increased to 51,000 shares today with the share price closing minimally higher at US$1.011 after briefly touching a level of US$1.02.
  • The only other active equity was Malita Investments plc which recovered from recent losses and closed the day at €0.529 on volumes of 10,000 shares.
  • MIA’s equity failed to trade following the publication of the April 2013 traffic statistics yesterday afternoon which revealed an increase of 8.9% in passenger movements – a new record for the month of April.