Daily Market Highlights (19.11.13)

  • Various locally listed equities were active during this morning’s session with the MSE Share Index easing marginally to 3,530.635 points. Download a copy of the Equity Market Summary.
  • On the bond market, the Rizzo Farrugia MGS Index edged 0.1% higher to a fresh 2-week high of 1,022.205 points as Eurozone yields slipped below the 1.7% level after one of the European Central Bank’s Executive members strongly hinted at the possibility of negative interest rates.
  • The share price of BOV dropped by 0.3% back to the €2.60 level across eight deals totalling 45,612 shares. The Bank is scheduled to hold its Annual General Meeting on 19 December during which shareholders will be asked to approve a number of resolutions including the final gross dividend of €0.13 per share as well as the 1 for 10 bonus issue.
  • Farsons shares slipped today with a 1.7% drop back to the €2.85 level on low volumes of 2,800 shares.
  • Low volumes were also registered in Crimsonwing shares with the equity easing by 1.2% to €0.84 across 1,857 shares ahead of the IT Company’s interim results publication in the coming days.
  • Similarly, Middlesea Insurance shed 1.1% to €0.83 across 2,134 shares despite reporting a positive performance during the first nine months of 2013 in this morning’s interim Directors’ statement. This was achieved on the back of satisfactory technical results, in spite of fierce price competition, and further satisfactory returns on the investment portfolios especially that of MSV Life plc.
  • A single deal of 50,000 Malita Investments shares executed at the €0.531 level representing a minimal decline from the previous close. The Company has not yet published its Interim Directors’ Statement.
  • On the other hand, new bids lifted the share price of GO by a further 0.6% for the third time in the last four sessions to €1.59 across six deals totalling 15,000 shares.  
  • Renewed demand also lifted the share price of 6pm by 11.3% to GBP0.701 – the equity’s highest closing price since April 2008. In last week’s Interim Directors’ Statement, the Directors of 6pm explained that the Company has been in profits for over 2 years as it has successfully managed to convert itself from a services company to a products based company with the launch of new clinical solutions particularly in the UK health sector. Furthermore, the focus on profitability should enable the Directors to declare a dividend in respect of the 2013 financial year.
  • Shallow volumes FIMBank as its share price inched marginally higher to €0.945 on just 7,800 shares.
  • Plaza Centres edged 0.9% higher to €0.57 across 500 shares.  
  • Meanwhile, a further five equities ended today’s session unchanged. In the financial sector, HSBC held on to the €2.66 level across 4,350 shares despite revealing a modest dip in profitability during the first nine months of 2013 mainly due to interest margin compression.
  • Similarly, Lombard Bank maintained the €1.87 level on low volumes of 6,566 shares.
  • Also no changes in the share price of MIA as its equity held on to the all-time high of €2.145 on volumes of 1,090 shares. Last week, the airport operator published its Interim Directors’ Statement revealing that it expects to register in excess of 3.9 million passenger movements this year and that the financial results for 2013 will be ahead of those recorded in 2012.
  • Likewise, 2,000 MaltaPost shares transacted at the equity’s all-time high of €1.12 as investors await the publication of the postal operator’s preliminary full-year results on 6 December.
  • The only other active equity was RS2 Software with a further 8,400 shares changing hands at the €2.30 level. The IT Company also published its Interim Directors’ Statement last week revealing advanced contract negotiations, which are expected to be concluded in early 2014, both for its licensing activity as well as for service-providing and managed services (provided through the fully owned subsidiary RS2 Smart Processing Ltd). RS2 is also actively considering opening a sales and support office in Latin America.