Main Street reports subdued profitability

 

The MSE Equity Price Index eased by 0.03% to 3,877.145 points as the declines in BOV and Plaza marginally offset the gains in BMIT and Mapfre. Meanwhile, five other equities remained unchanged across equity trading activity amounting to €0.12 million. Download today’s Equity Market Summary.

This morning, Main Street Complex plc published its interim financial statements for the six-month period ended 30 June 2021. During H1 2021, revenues increased by 4.1% to €0.22 million. However, when comparing this revenue to the pre-pandemic levels in 2019, this is still 43% lower than the turnover recorded in the first six months of 2019. EBITDA eased to €0.14 million in 2021 (H1 2020: €0.15 million) whilst the EBITDA margin fell to 63.5% compared to almost 70% in H1 2020. Overall, Main Street Complex reported a net profit of €0.05 million (H1 2020: €0.06 million). The Directors explained that at this stage it is prudent not to recommend the payment of an interim dividend. The equity remained inactive today.

Bank of Valletta plc lost 0.6% to the €0.895 level on six trades totalling 45,044 shares.

The only other negative performing equity today was Plaza Centres plc which drifted 4.4% lower to the €0.86 level on two trades totalling 1,800 shares

Meanwhile, BMIT Technologies plc increased by 0.8% to the €0.498 level on a single deal of 21,300 shares.

Similarly, Mapfre Middlesea plc edged 0.9% higher to the €2.14 level albeit on trivial volumes.

Malta International Airport plc traded flat at the €6.00 level on two trades totalling 1020 shares.

Also among the large equities by market cap, HSBC Bank Malta plc remained at the €0.79 level on two deals of 2,297 shares.

The ordinary shares of RS2 Software plc traded flat at the €1.76 on a single trade of 4,000 shares. Earlier this week, RS2 published its interim financial statements for the six-month period ended 30 June 2021. The group’s revenues surged by almost 70% to €18.3 million (H1 2020: €10.8 million) on the back of the considerable increase in business across all segments. RS2 achieved an EBITDA of €3.88 million compared to the negative EBITDA of almost €2 million recorded in H1 2020. Overall, the Group posted a net profit for the period under review of €1.09 million (H1 2020: net loss of €2.3 million). In their commentary, the Directors of RS2 explained that after obtaining the EMI licence from BaFin in May 2021, the Group will undergo a substantial change in its revenue model, as RS2 can now manage merchant funding, provide acquiring services, and issue payment instruments.

Similarly, PG plc remained at the €2.28 level on a single deal of 909 shares. PG will be publishing its 2020/21 annual financial statements on 25 August.

Three trades totalling 15,000 shares left GO plc unchanged at the €3.40 level. GO turned ex-dividend on Tuesday and the net interim dividend of €0.07 per share will be paid on 31 August.

The RF MGS Index edged 0.02% higher to 1,104.254 points. Yesterday, the Federal Reserve published the minutes from July’s monetary policy meeting, which revealed that central bankers were considering the tapering of bond purchases by the end of this year. However, the committee members noted that an improvement in employment levels would be required before the Federal Reserve would consider raising interest rates. Meanwhile, data published today showed that initial jobless claims in the US fell for the fourth straight period, albeit the numbers are still higher than pre-pandemic averages.