Farsons regains its 2012 high ahead of interim results

The equity of Simonds Farsons Cisk plc closed in positive territory for the second session this week with the share price advancing by a further 1.4% to regain its 2012 high of €2.15 ahead of the Group’s half-year results publication next Wednesday 26 September. A single trade of 1,250 shares was executed this morning with the Farsons’ equity still ranking as the best performer this year with a 17.8% jump since the start of 2012. In the last communication to the market, the Directors had explained that the results achieved for the first few months of the current financial year ending 31 January 2013 were in line with budgets and ahead of the figures achieved in the comparable period last year when Farsons generated a profit after tax of €2.6 million in the six-month period to 31 July 2011.

GO plc shares recovered from an intra-day low of €0.82 to close 3% higher at the €0.85 level across two trades totalling 10,000 shares.

Meanwhile, the share price of the two large banks dipped lower on shallow volumes. Bank of Valletta plc declined by 0.4% to €2.26 on volumes of 8,300 shares with the share price of HSBC Bank Malta plc retreating minimally to €2.739 on a single deal of 1,900 shares. Likewise, International Hotel Investment plc shares eased 0.6% lower to €0.895 across three trades totalling 10,886 shares.

The rest of the active equities, including Malta International Airport plc and RS2 Software plc, ended this morning’s session unchanged also on marginal volumes.

On the bond market, the Rizzo Farrugia MGS Index edged a further 0.1% higher to 994.545 points reflecting the downward trend in Eurozone yields which by this afternoon had slipped back to the 1.61% level. After touching a 5-month high of 1.737% on Monday, benchmark 10-year German bund yields retreated lower on increasing concerns over Spain which continues to delay its request for a bailout which will trigger the bond buying programme recently announced by the European Central Bank. Investors’ concerns over Spain also offset the initial positive reaction to the new stimulus measures announced by the Bank of Japan in a bid to counteract the slowdown in the country’s economy.