Daily Market Highlights (16.07.15)

  • The MSE Share Index moved marginally higher during this morning’s session to 4,119.603 points largely due to the rebound in the share prices of Malta International Airport plc and Bank of Valletta plc. Download a copy of today’s Equity Market Summary.
  • On the secondary market for local bonds, the Rizzo Farrugia MGS Index jumped 0.3% higher to 1,118.748 points as the peripheral eurozone yields continued to trend lower after the Greek parliament yesterday evening approved the measures requested by international creditors for a new debt deal.
  • The equity of Malta International Airport plc extended its recent rebound with a further 0.6% uplift during today’s session to regain the €3.50 level for the first time in 12 weeks on volumes of 14,801 shares. The airport operator is shortly expected to issue its June traffic results and updated passenger forecasts for 2015. Meanwhile, the interim financial statements will be published on 29 July.
  • Similarly, Bank of Valletta plc shares edged slightly higher today, representing the first uptick in the last four sessions, with a 0.3% increase, effectively reversing yesterday’s decline to recapture the €2.30 level across fifteen deals totalling 27,100 shares. Last Monday, BOV issued its Interim Directors’ Statement informing the market that its financial performance since 1 April 2015 was in line with expectations. BOV reported strong growth in home loans while customer deposits continued to grow especially in the short-term category resulting in a positive impact on the net interest margin of the Bank. BOV also indicated that commissions earned on the sale of financial products continued to grow while other income generated from foreign exchange transactions and investment portfolio gains improved. Meanwhile, costs were higher than those of previous years and impairment charges on specific accounts increased reflecting the deteriorating quality of such accounts.
  • On the other hand, RS2 Software plc shares eased minimally back to the €2.22 level compared to yesterday’s closing price of €2.225 on shallow volumes of 4,920 shares.
  • Likewise, the equity of Mapfre Middlesea plc drifted into negative territory with a minimal decline to €1.67 on just 51 shares.
  • Meanwhile, no changes in the other six active equities were recorded. Among the large cap equities, HSBC Bank Malta plc closed unchanged at the €1.78 level after failing to hold on to an intra-day high of €1.80 across a total of 10,400 shares. The Bank is scheduled to publish its interim results on Monday 3 August.
  • GO plc also ended this morning’s session unchanged at the €3.58 level on volumes of 29,371 shares. The telecoms quad-play operator is scheduled to hold an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on Wednesday 22 July in connection with the proposed property spin-off.
  • Similarly, 2,420 shares of International Hotel Investments plc traded unchanged at €0.85 across a single trade. IHI recently announced that holders of an aggregate of 94.28% of the shares in Island Hotels Group Holdings plc (IHG) have submitted their acceptance form in connection with the offer made by IHI to acquire the entire issued share capital of IHG. The remaining shareholders of IHG have until 31 July to respond to the offer.
  • Also no changes in the share prices of Medserv plc and Malita Investments plc at €2.355 and €0.90 respectively.
  • The only other active equity during this morning’s session was 6pm Holdings plc with 1,778 shares changing hands at the GBP0.76 level representing no change from the previous closing price. Earlier this week, the IT Group published a Prospectus dated 8 July 2015 in connection with a new €13 million bond issue. The 6pm bonds are reserved for shareholders as at the close of trading on 4 June 2015.