MSE Equity Price Index slides by 1.7%

 

The MSE Equity Price Index dropped to a three-week low as it declined by 1.7%, primarily on account of the sharp declines in PG and IHI on low volumes. Meanwhile, BMIT, GO, HSBC and FIMBank all traded in positive territory whilst MPC closed unchanged as overall trading activity eased to €0.09 million. Download today’s Equity Market Summary.

A single trade of 915 shares forced PG plc to drop by 16% to the €2.10 level.

Similarly, International Hotel Investments plc declined by 11% to a three-week low at the €0.605 level across trivial volumes.

Meanwhile, Malta International Airport plc eased by 0.8% as it retraced backed to the €6.40 level across 5,400 shares.

GO plc edged 0.6% higher to the €3.56 level as 3,000 shares changed hands. Yesterday, GO announced that it submitted an application with the Listing Authority requesting the approval of a prospectus in relation to a proposed €60 million unsecured bond issue carrying a coupon of 3.5%. GO also added that a portion of the new bonds will be available for subscription by shareholders as at close of trading on Wednesday 19 May 2021, as well as employees on a preferential basis.

GO’s data centre subsidiary – BMIT Technologies plc – advanced by a further 2% to the €0.51 level as 50,000 shares changed hands. Yesterday, BMIT published a quarterly update providing information about its performance in Q1 2021 when compared to the same period in 2020. During this period revenues surged by 13% to €6.6 million with revenue from cloud and connectivity services continuing to grow steadily. Meanwhile, EBITDA surged by around 20% to just below €3 million. In conclusion, BMIT stated that whilst the economic recovery post pandemic (both locally and globally) remains uncertain, the results obtained in Q1 2021 are encouraging and the company remains cautiously optimistic for the rest of the year.

The preference shares of RS2 Software plc rose by 1.1% to the €1.78 level across 2,000 shares.

A single deal of 6,000 shares lifted HSBC Bank Malta plc 1.2% higher to the €0.82 level.

FIMBank plc jumped by 10.6% to a 1-month high at the USD0.376 level as 1,000 shares changed hands.

Elsewhere, Malta Properties Company plc traded flat at the €0.545 level across 6,287 shares

The RF MGS Index fell to a 10-month low as it declined by 0.09% to 1,101.030 points. Earlier this week the European Commission published updated economic growth forecasts for the eurozone and reiterated that the projected forecasted growth in Malta’s Gross Domestic Product ultimately depends on the easing of pandemic mitigation measures and the successful reopening to tourism and related activities. Meanwhile in the US, while retail sales surged over 50% year-on-year, no increases from the previous month were reported, suggesting a possible slowdown in consumer spending.