Malita share price sinks to 13-month low

 

The MSE Equity Price Index added onto yesterday’s strong rebound as it surged by a further 0.92% to 3,976.784 points. The gains in BOV, BMIT, IHI, Mapfre and Harvest outweighed the declines in Malita and FIMBank. Meanwhile, HSBC and GO traded flat on overall trading activity of €0.08 million. Download today’s Equity Market Summary.

Bank of Valletta plc rose by 2.3% as it returned the €0.90 level across 21,053 shares.

BOV’s insurance subsidiary, Mapfre Middlesea plc, advanced by 3.5% to the €2.34 level as 2,213 shares changed hands.

International Hotel Investments plc climbed by 4.6% to a four-week high of €0.68 across 2,626 shares.

In the technology sector, BMIT Technologies plc advanced by 2% as it regained the €0.50 level across 60,000 shares. Meanwhile, Harvest Technology plc added 0.6% to the €1.56 level across a single deal of trivial volumes.

Malita Investments plc dropped by 3.5% to a 13-month low at the €0.83 level as 7,000 shares changed hands.

A single trade of 2,500 shares forced FIMBank plc 1.6% lower to the USD0.37 level.

Elsewhere, HSBC Bank Malta plc traded unchanged at the €0.81 level across 5,000 shares. Similarly, GO plc remained at the €3.40 level as 3,000 shares changed hands.

Today, Tigné Mall plc announced that following the closure of the Debenhams franchise operations in Malta by United Group, Tigné Mall has entered into a termination of lease agreement with United Department Stores Limited in respect of the Debenhams outlet situated at ‘The Point Shopping Mall’. The termination of the lease will be effective as of 30 June 2021. Furthermore, the company also announced that it has concurrently negotiated and entered into a new lease agreement in respect of the vacated premises with the Classic Group. Tigné Mall explained that the new lease will commence on 1 July 2021 and that further updates will be issued in due course. Meanwhile, the Board of Directors of the company concluded that the demand for premium retail space within the mall is robust and that it remains fully let even during this challenging period.

LifeStar Holding plc announced the basis of acceptance in relation to the offer of shares and issuance of a subordinated bond. With respect to the offer for sale of 18,518,519 ordinary shares in its subsidiary company, LifeStar Insurance plc (‘LSI’) at an offer price of €0.54 per share and the offer of 6,570,000 ordinary shares in LSI by the company to its shareholders in exchange for their ordinary shares in the company at an exchange ratio of 1:1. In this respect, all applications were met in full and the overall total of 16,751,951 shares of LSI are expected to be admitted to the Official List of the Malta Stock Exchange by 10 June 2021 and trading may commence by 11 June 2021. Moreover, with respect to the issue of €10 million 4% unsecured subordinated bonds due 2026-2031, applications for a total of €2,431,300 were received and were met in full. The bonds are expected to be admitted to the Official List of the Malta Stock Exchange by 10 June 2021 and trading may commence by 11 June 2021.

The proceeds from the aforementioned share offer and subordinated bond issue will be used by the company to partially fund the repayment in full of the €10 million 5.00% unsecured bonds which matured yesterday. In fact, the company explained that it has commenced the process for the repayment of the bonds and that repayment is expected to be finalised by Wednesday 9 June in accordance with the terms and conditions of the 2016 bond prospectus.

The RF MGS Index eased by 0.08% to 1,104.547 as signs of higher inflation added to concerns about an earlier tightening of monetary policy. From a data perspective, the Eurozone Composite Purchasing Managers Index survey for the month of May increased to levels last seen over three years ago whilst also exceeding monthly forecasts. On the price front, input cost inflation rose at the fastest rate in over a decade, while output charge inflation hit a 25-month high. Meanwhile, oil prices remained at their highest levels since September 2019 as the demand for oil is expected to exceed supply in the second half of this year. Elsewhere, yesterday the US Federal Reserve published its periodic “Beige Book” which revealed that economic growth increased at a moderate pace from early April to late May, notwithstanding accelerating inflation pressures for employee compensations and production input costs.