MSE Equity Price Index loses more ground

 

The MSE Equity Price Index lost a further 0.13% today as it fell to 3,852.134 points. The declines in BOV, PG and GHM outweighed the gains in HSBC. Meanwhile, Malita traded unchanged as overall trading activity marginally improved to €0.08 million. Download today’s Equity Market Summary.

In the retail banking sector, Bank of Valletta plc lost 1.7% to the €0.885 level across two deals totalling 6,082 shares, whilst HSBC Bank Malta plc advanced by 2.5% to the €0.805 level as 40,781 shares changed hands. BOV and HSBC will be publishing their 2021 interim financial results on 29 July and 2 August respectively.

PG plc eased by 0.9% to the €2.26 level across 14,000 shares. PG’s annual financial statements as at 30 April 2021 will be published by the end of August.

Meanwhile, Grand Harbour Marina plc traded for the first time in over 4 months as it plunged by 9.1% to the €0.60 level after initially touching an intraday low of €0.50 (-26.7%)

Elsewhere, Malita Investments plc traded flat at the €0.845 level across a single trade of 4,000 shares.

The RF MGS Index moved 0.14% lower to 1,102.406 points as the International Monetary Fund (‘IMF’) upgraded its forecasts for Malta, with economic growth expected at 5.75% for 2021 and 6% for 2022. Notably, these figures are higher than the projected growth rates of 5.6% for 2021 and 5.8% for 2022 which the European Commission published earlier this month. Elsewhere, the European Central Bank (‘ECB’) Governing Council kept key interest rates unchanged, including the main deposit facility at a negative 0.5% rate, in an effort to achieve its new inflation target of 2%. The ECB’s new strategy will allow for inflation to exceed 2% temporarily so that it can average out at a 2% rate over the medium term. The ECB also confirmed that the €1.85 trillion pandemic emergency purchase programme shall continue at least until March 2022.

Yesterday, Simonds Farsons Cisk plc published an updated Financial Analysis Summary which provided the forecasts for the current financial year ending 31 January 2022. The Group is expecting a strong rebound in revenue to €91.7 million (+25.6%) which is just 11.3% short of the record turnover figure of €103.5 million achieved in the 2019/20 financial year. Likewise, EBITDA is anticipated to climb to €19.3 million (+29.1%) whilst the Group is projecting a net profit for the year of €9.4 million compared to €3.3 million in 2020/21. In terms of financial position, Farsons is expecting to end the year with a cash balance of €15.3 million whilst total debt is anticipated to contract by 6.1% to €38.9 million.