Daily Market Highlights (01.09.08)

  • The MSE Share Index retreats by 0.26% to 3,086.294 points as BOV reversed yesterday’s 1.33% gain to drop back to the €3.00 level while RS2 trades at an all-time low of €0.599. Activity remains low as investors focus on the new issues by Corinthia Finance plc and Island Hotels Group Holdings plc. Download a copy of the latest Equity Market Summary .
  • BOV’s share price declines by 1.32% to €3.00 on increased activity of 20,201 shares. The equity failed to hold on to yesterday’s gains when it closed at a new 2009 high of €3.04. Share price drops to a low of €2.95 today before closing the session at €3.00. Lowest offers now available at €2.999 whilst highest outstanding bids placed at €2.85.
  • HSBC closes the day unchanged at €2.70 on 3 trades totalling a mere 1,900 exchanged. 925 shares remain on offer at today’s closing price.
  • Meanwhile, RS2 drops to a new multi-year low of €0.599. The equity is currently trading 25% below its IPO price level of €0.80. No further bids remain in the market whilst lowest offers are pitched at the closing price. On 19 August, RS2 published their 2009 interim results showing that the Company’s turnover declined by 50% to €2.7 million over the same period last year. RS2 generated a profit after tax of €0.2 million representing a decrease of 91% over the first half of 2008 due to the reduction of license and service fees recognized during the period.
  • GO’s equity failed to trade after the telecoms company published its 2009 interim financial statements yesterday afternoon showing a 4.8% decline in revenues over the same period last year. After deducting net finance costs together with the share of loss in Forgendo Limited (€3.73 million) and taxation, GO registered a net loss of €5.4 million compared to the net loss of €4.4 million incurred in the first half of 2008. Last Friday, the Greek telecoms company Forthnet announced its results for the three months ended 30 June 2009. The results showed an improvement in revenue and Group EBITDA with the EBITDA margin reaching 20.3%. Copy of GO’s half-year results available here.
  • Medserv also published its 2009 interim results yesterday afternoon. The Group generated total revenue of €8.2 million representing a 38.2% increase over the turnover in the comparative period last year. Pre-tax profits surged to €1.5 million from €0.7 million in the first half of 2008. Copy of Medserv’s half-year results available here.
  • Yesterday Corinthia Finance announced a €20 million bond issue at a coupon of 6.25% per annum. Further details available here.
  • Island Hotels Group Holdings plc today launched a bond and equity offering as part of its plans to list on the Malta Stock Exchange. The bond offer consists of 10-year paper at a rate of 6.5% per annum while the equity offer amounts to 8,383,300 shares at a price of €1.00 per share. Full details of the offerings available here.