Daily Market Highlights (14.12.09)

  • MSE Share Index edges 0.3% higher to a fresh 13-month high of 3,428.884 as gains in BOV, GO, Crimsonwing and Farsons outweigh the declines posted by Middlesea and GlobalCapital. The rest of the active equities (HSBC, Lombard and Medserv) close unchanged. Download a copy of today’s Equity Market Summary .
  • New bonds listed by Mizzi Organisation Finance plc commence trading. Price climbs by 151 basis points on the first day of trading to 101.51% following the strong demand during the recent primary market offering. €81,800 (nom) trade during this morning’s session with further bids in the market at this level.
  • BOV’s share price rises by a marginal 0.5% to €3.80 on volumes totaling 2,348 shares. Further offers remain unsatisfied at the closing price with bids entering the market at the €3.79 level. BOV will be convening its 36th Annual General Meeting on Wednesday 16 December. Amongst the resolutions, shareholders will be asked to approve the final gross dividend of €0.215 per share and a 1 for 4 bonus issue. The dividend will then be distributed to all shareholders on 17 December.
  • Meanwhile HSBC closes unchanged at the €3.25 level for the third successive session. 7,400 shares exchanged today with best bids still in the market at €3.20 whilst few offers remain outstanding at the last trading price.
  • GO continues to perform positively as the equity closes today’s session at a fresh 2009 high of €2.05 on volumes of 13,770 shares. The recent upswing in the share price is possibly due to the announcements issued last week stating that the Group secured exclusive rights to broadcast the Italian Serie A matches for the next two football seasons which followed another announcement that it secured exclusive local broadcasting rights for England’s Premier League for the three football seasons 2010/11, 2011/12 and 2012/13. Forthnet (GO’s Greek investment) also confirmed last week that it secured England’s Premier League for the three football seasons 2010/11, 2011/12 and 2012/13.
  • Lombard Bank’s equity maintains its 2009 high of €2.87 as a further 1,000 shares are exchanged today. Best bids placed at €2.869 with further shares on offer at €2.87.
  • Medserv maintains its multi-year high of €4.10 on a single transaction of 1,000 shares this morning. Further bids remain outstanding in the market at €4.10 with lowest offers now at the €4.18 level. Last week Medserv reported that it is currently completing work on the drill ship Songa Saturn. Medserv was entrusted with upgrading the vessel to be able to drill in deeper waters. Meanwhile in the international press Medserv’s client Hess Corporation reported a discovery of new gas deposits in the Gulf of Sirte off the Libyan coast.
  • Share price of Simonds Farsons Cisk climbs 4.3% to €1.70 on low volumes of 1,500 shares. Equity has recovered by 13% since touching a multi-year low of €1.50 in May 2009.
  • Crimsonwing’s equity also continues to recover and jumps a further 5.4% to €0.39 on volumes of 5,000 shares. Equity is now 56% higher than its all-time low of €0.25 recorded in July 2009.
  • Middlesea Insurance drops 1.6% to €0.62 on activity of 13,448 shares. Today marks the closure of subscriptions for the €40 million rights issue. Results revealing the support for the rights issue to be available in the coming days.
  • 300 GlobalCapital shares trade at €1.10, representing a 3.4% decline over the previous trade. However bids already placed in the market at €1.14 with lowest offers at €1.498.