Main Street increases dividend amid full occupancy

The MSE Equity Price Index increased by a further 0.09% to a fresh 1-month high of 3,604.362 points as the gains in MaltaPost and M&Z outweighed the decline in BMIT. Meanwhile, BOV, APS, HSBC and MIA closed unchanged as total trading activity amounted to €0.27 million. Download today’s Equity Market Summary.

Yesterday, Main Street Complex plc published its 2022 annual report. Revenue increased by 23.4% to €0.79 million, which is still 4% lower than the record revenues of €0.82 million generated in 2019. Excluding depreciation, EBITDA surged by 29.1% to €0.57 million whilst operating profit improved considerably to €0.46 million, albeit margins remained below those achieved prior to the pandemic. Overall, Main Street reported a net profit of €0.34 million. Shareholders’ funds contracted by 4.8% to €10.9 million which translates into a net asset value per share of €0.563. The Directors are recommending the payment of a final net dividend of €0.0109 per share to shareholders as at close of trading on 30 May 2023, subject to shareholders’ approval during the upcoming Annual General Meeting scheduled to be held on 12 June 2023. The final dividend is expected to be paid by not later than 16 June 2023. Coupled with the net interim dividend per share of €0.00671 which was paid out in September 2022, the total net dividend for the year amounts to a record of €0.0176 per share (9.7% higher than the total net dividend of €0.0161 for FY2018), representing the company’s entire earnings generated throughout the year. In their commentary, the Directors stated the shopping complex is fully occupied and the footfall in the first quarter of 2023 exceeded that of the same period last year.

Today, MIDI plc published its results for the 2022 financial year. Revenue amounted to €3.41 million compared to €9.42 million in 2021 as MIDI had no inventory of residential apartments for sale during 2022. In fact, revenues from the ‘Development and Sale of Property’ segment amounted to just €0.23 million compared to €6.6 million in 2021. Meanwhile, income generated from the ‘Rental and Management of Property’ segment improved to €3.19 million compared to €2.81 million in 2021 as the company did not provide any rent concessions to its tenants in 2022 in contrast to the previous year. The financial performance was dented by a €1.05 million loss in fair value attributable to investment property. Overall, the net loss for the year amounted to €2.28 million. Shareholders’ funds contracted by 1.1% to €101.3 million, which translates into a net asset value per share of €0.4729.

For the eighth consecutive session, Bank of Valletta plc was the most actively traded equity as 218,376 shares changed hands, having a market value of €0.22 million and accounting for 80% of today’s value of equities traded. The share price of BOV closed unchanged at the €1.01 level after recovering from an intraday low of €0.99 (-2%).

Malta International Airport plc traded flat at the €5.55 level as 3,936 shares changed hands.

APS Bank plc (14,390 shares) and HSBC Bank Malta plc (5,712 shares) held the €0.61 and €1.02 levels respectively.

M&Z plc surged by 12.3% to a two-month high of €0.685 across four deals totalling 16,450 shares. M&Z is expected to publish its 2022 annual financial statements on Friday 28 April.

MaltaPost plc moved 4.4% higher to the €0.47 level across two trades totalling 6,000 shares.

Meanwhile, BMIT Technologies plc shed 1.4% to an all-time low of €0.434, albeit on a single deal of 8,500 shares.

The RF MGS Index remained virtually unchanged at 874.475 points as the increase in prices of long-term MGS was partly offset by the marginal declines in shorter-dated MGS. In Spain, producer prices fell by 1% in March when compared to the previous year, in contrast to the forecasted 2.8% increase. The figure shows a sharp contrast when compared to the 8% annualised increase in prices in February. Indeed, this marked the first decline since December 2020 and was largely attributed to the 15.9% decline in energy costs. However, ECB Executive Board member Isabel Schnabel stated that whilst headline inflation has recovered and should be down to its 2% target in the medium term, the core inflation in the eurozone still has not peaked. Thus, Ms Schnabel remarked that a 50-basis point rate hike cannot be ruled out in the next ECB meeting which is set to take place on 4 May. Ms Schnabel also emphasized that any additional rate hike decision will data dependent on the relevant economic developments of the Euro Area member states.

This report contains public information only and is not to be construed as investment advice or an offer to buy or sell any securities. Information contained herein is based on data obtained from sources considered to be reliable, but no representations or guarantees are made with regard to the accuracy of the data. Stock markets are volatile and subject to fluctuations which cannot be reasonably foreseen. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Rizzo, Farrugia & Co. (Stockbrokers) Limited is a company licensed to undertake investment services in Malta by the MFSA under the Investment Services Act, Cap. 370 of the Laws of Malta and a member of the Malta Stock Exchange.