Trading activity centres around RS2

 

The MSE Equity Price Index extended yesterday’s uplift as it added a further 0.15% to 4,671.011 points. The gains in IHI and GO outweighed the declines in RS2, BOV and Farsons whilst a further five companies closed the day unchanged. Trading activity amounted to just under €0.4 million with the bulk taking place in RS2. Download today’s Equity Market Summary.

RS2 Software plc eased by 0.9% to the €2.28 level across 130,289 shares having a market value of €0.3 million and representing 75% of today’s total value of equities traded.

Also among the large companies, Bank of Valletta plc moved back to the €1.09 level (-0.9%) on twelve deals totalling 20,412 shares.

Simonds Farsons Cisk plc lost 3.5% to settle at €11.00 albeit on just 634 shares.

Low trading activity also took place in the equity of International Hotel Investments plc which surged by 4.5% to the €0.815 level on volumes of 2,000 shares.

GO plc rebounded by 1% from its near three-month low of €4.12 to the €4.16 level across 2,846 shares.

Meanwhile, HSBC Bank Malta plc stayed at its sixteen-year low of €1.12 level across 5,621 shares. Today, HSBC issued an announcement explaining that its decision to enter into a promise of sale agreement with Malta Properties Company plc (“MPC”) to dispose of an investment property located in Swatar reflects the view of the bank’s Board of Directors that property management does not form part of its core business. Furthermore, the Swatar investment property is a non-core property asset which is not part of the bank’s normal business. HSBC also added that the sale would provide a simplification benefit to transfer this responsibility to a third party whilst generating a small one-off profit for the bank which will be reflected in the 2020 financial year. While the investment property will no longer generate a revenue stream for the bank, once transferred, HSBC Malta will also benefit from reduced volatility in earnings associated with revaluations and a reduction in the complexity of related-party obligations.

Three deals totalling 3,480 shares left the equity of Malta International Airport plc at the €6.90 level. The airport operator will be publishing its 2019 full-year financial results on 26 February and on the same day, it will also consider the declaration of a final dividend. Meanwhile, MIA is soon expected to publish its traffic and financial forecasts for 2020.

Similarly, MIDI plc and Trident Estates plc also ended flat at €0.50 and €1.55 respectively albeit on light trading activity.

Within the same segment, Malita Investments plc held on to its ten-month high of €0.94 across 17,305 shares.

Today, BMIT Technologies plc announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary BM IT Ltd concluded the acquisition of the Handaq data centre which has a capacity of approximately 300 racks. In this respect, BMIT reiterated that the acquisition will enable the company to carry on a significant part of its operations from its own property. This will minimise, and in some cases, avoid the risks associated with a migration to another facility, including financial expense, operational disruption and risk of loss of business, as customers allocated to the Handaq data centre will not need to be relocated. As a result of the acquisition of the Handaq data centre, BMIT will now be incurring less expenditure on the rental of its premises. BMIT’s equity remained inactive today.

The RF MGS Index trended lower for the first time in three days as it slipped by 0.12% to 1,139.511 points. Prices of Malta Government Stocks moved lower as minutes of the most recent ECB monetary policy meeting reflected a more optimistic view of the single currency economy. In particular, the ECB Governing Council commented on the “stabilisation in output growth at moderate rates” and noted that “economic news, as perceived by market participants, had become less negative.”