Daily Market Highlights (19.05.2021)

RS2 share price surges to fresh 6-month high

 

The MSE Equity Price Index rose by 1.6% to 4,027.864 points following the positive performances in RS2’s ordinary and preference shares as well as HSBC which outweighed the declines in BOV and MIA. Elsewhere, GO and BMIT closed unchanged as overall trading activity improved marginally to €0.11 million. Download today’s Equity Market Summary.

RS2 Software plc ordinary shares surged by 17.8% to a 6-month high of €2.12 on strong volumes of 25,303 shares, representing nearly 45% of today’s total trading value. Meanwhile, RS2 preference shares gained 3.9% to a new all-time high of €1.85 as 12,000 shares changed hands. Yesterday, RS2 confirmed that its German subsidiary RS2 Financial Services GmbH has been granted an E-Money Institution (EMI) licence by the BaFIN, the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority. The EMI licence allows the Group to provide a wider range of financial services comparing with payment institutions and allows safeguarding client funds for an unlimited period of time.

Within the banking sector, HSBC Bank Malta plc advanced by 3.2% to regain the €0.815 level on activity of 4,083 shares, while Bank of Valletta plc lost 0.5% to the €0.91 level on 3,000 shares.

Meanwhile, Malta International Airport plc closed 0.8% lower at the €6.40 level across 1,999 shares. Yesterday, MIA published a quarterly update providing information about its performance in Q1 2021 when compared to the same period in 2020. During Q1 2021, revenues dropped markedly to €5.08 million compared to €12.8 million in Q1 2020 reflecting the significant reduction of 90.2% in passenger movements to just 0.1 million (Q1 2020: 1 million). Overall, MIA posted a loss before tax of €3.12 million compared to a pre-tax profit of €2.27 million in Q1 2020. MIA stated that recent developments including the easing of restrictions, both locally and in important markets, augur well for the second half of the year.

Elsewhere, GO plc traded flat at the €3.68 level on trivial volumes. Similarly, GO plc’s data centre subsidiary, BMIT Technologies plc also ended the session unchanged at €0.50 after recovering from an intra-day low of €0.486 (-2.8%) on a total volume of 39,300 shares.

The RF MGS Index moved lower for the fifth consecutive session with a decline of 0.07% to 1,098.49 points as Eurozone inflation continues to rise, with the Consumer Price Index reaching 1.6% growth year-on-year in April, representing a 0.6% increase over the previous month. Today, the European Central Bank published its biannual Financial Stability Review whereby it warned that insolvencies would be expected if the pandemic stimulus measures are stopped, especially in countries with large services sectors that have high corporate debt. Meanwhile, the European Union agreed to reopen its borders for travellers who are fully vaccinated or arriving from a list of safe countries which is currently being compiled.

Yesterday, GAP Group plc published an updated Financial Analysis Summary providing an overview of the company’s financial results in 2020, a comparison of the 2020 actual results with previous forecasts, as well as the forecasts for 2021. Revenues for the current financial year are expected to more than double from last year to reach €52.3 million, mainly on the back of the sale of units at the Luqa Development and the Mellieha Development. Given the much stronger increase in revenues, EBITDA is also expected to surge by 83.9% to €16.6 million. Meanwhile, net debt is projected to drop significantly to €20.6 million from €51.2 million as at the end of 2020, as GAP continues to add to its sinking fund in order to build the cash reserves required for the redemption of its outstanding bonds.