Bank shares recover while GO slips to a 15-month low

This morning’s trading session on the Malta Stock Exchange was characterised by a recovery in the banking equities while GO plc and Middlesea Insurance plc declined. The gains registered by HSBC Bank Malta plc (+2.9%) and Bank of Valletta plc (+1%) helped the MSE Share Index rise by 0.84% from yesterday’s 1-month low.

HSBC’s share price recovered the losses suffered in the previous two sessions to regain the €3.50 level on strong volumes amounting to 107,000 shares. These trades were effected in quick succession at the start of trading with no further transactions taking place throughout the rest of the session as the market eagerly awaits the publication of the 2010 full-year results and the final dividend recommendation due on Friday afternoon.

BOV also traded higher but volumes declined to just 14,695 shares compared to the heaving trading activity in recent sessions. BOV’s equity advanced by 1% to the €3.05 level with lowest offers now placed at €3.06.

GO’s share price slipped by 3.8% to close at €1.80 – the lowest level since November 2009. Trading activity amounted to 54,300 shares, the bulk of which were executed during the final stages of today’s session. GO’s equity is once again underperforming the overall trend across the local equity market having dropped by 7% since the start of the year. Meanwhile the share price of Forthnet has climbed by over 13% today on the Athens Stock Exchange on high volumes.

Crimsonwing plc’s equity traded for the second time this year easing 0.3% lower to €0.379 on a single trade of 4,000 shares. The IT company recently issued a positive interim statement reporting a 25% growth in revenue to €10.7 million during the first three quarters of the current financial year.

Subscriptions by the General Public for the two new Malta Government Stocks close tomorrow afternoon.