IHI and MaltaPost recover

During this morning’s trading session on the Borza, the share prices of International Hotel Investments plc and MaltaPost plc recovered from their recent declines. The international hotel operator saw its equity jump 4.9% to regain the €0.85 level with the share price of the postal operator up 5.9% to regain its 2010 high of €0.90 across seven trades amounting to 26,104 shares.

Plaza Centres plc also had a positive day. This equity advanced by 2.1% to €1.685 – minimally below its 2010 high of €1.69. A single trade of 5,000 shares transacted today with no further shares on offer.

On the other hand, HSBC Bank Malta plc shed 0.9% to €2.835 and GO plc eased 1.1% lower to close at the €1.83 level. The other active equity, Bank of Valletta plc, traded unchanged at the €3.24 level on volumes of just under 8,000 shares.

Overall trading activity remained subdued as investors continued to place increased focus on the bond market with particular attention to Malta Government Stocks. In fact, a total of €75,687 worth of shares traded in contrast to the over €5.5 million exchanged across corporate bonds and government paper.

Substantial volumes of just over €4 million (nominal) traded in the 5.25% MGS 2030 (I). The price declined marginally from yesterday level to a close of 104.43%.

This afternoon Simonds Farsons Cisk plc published its July 2010 interim results showing a 4.7% increase in turnover to €35.1 million on increased business activity. Notwithstanding a 4% rise in the overall cost base to €31.9 million, the Group’s profitability rose by 19.4% to €2.2 million.  The Directors declared an interim dividend of €0.0133 per share to shareholders as at close of trading on Tuesday 5 October. Further details on the results available at https://rizzofarrugia.com/news-events/2010/interim-results-sfc11/.