MIA extends rally on reopening expectations

 

The MSE Equity Price Index trended higher for the fourth consecutive day as it added a further 0.19% to 3,983.093 points. The gains in MIA, PG and BMIT outweighed the drops in Farsons, FIMBank and GHM whilst another three equities closed the day unchanged. Trading across equities amounted to €0.24 million as volumes in MIA represented 42% of today’s activity. Download today’s Equity Market Summary.

Malta International Airport plc advanced by a further 5.5% to the €5.80 level after partially retreating from a near three-month high of €5.85 on a total of 17,693 shares. The Tourism Minister yesterday indicated that the airport may resume operations in mid-June.

Similarly, PG plc climbed 0.5% to a near three-month high of €1.95 across 6,500 shares.

A single deal of just 4,500 shares lifted the equity of BMIT Technologies plc 1.3% higher to the €0.478 level.

Simonds Farsons Cisk plc dropped 3.6% to the €8.00 level on a total of 6,489 shares. On Wednesday, Farsons published its 2019/20 annual financial results showing an increase of 3.7% in revenues to a record of €103.5 million but a drop of 12.6% in pre-tax profits to €12.3 million reflecting margin compression as well as an increase in bad debt provisions. The Directors decided not to recommend a final dividend in view of the prevailing uncertainties related to ‘COVID-19’. Commenting on the outlook, the Directors noted how Farsons entered the current economic crisis from a position of strength. Although sales in April (the first full post-‘COVID-19’ month) fell by close to 55% when compared to the same month in 2019, the company is projecting that it will still generate positive cash flow over the course of the 2020/21 financial year.

FIMBank plc was the worst performing equity today with a drop of 4.8% to the USD0.40 level across 22,500 shares.

Grand Harbour Marina plc retreated to the €0.72 level (-4%) after opening at a new all-time low of €0.40 (-46.7%) albeit on trivial volumes.

Meanwhile, Bank of Valletta plc retained the €1.02 level across 40,729 shares.

In the property segment, MIDI plc (14,000 shares) and Trident Estates plc (10,342 shares) closed unchanged at €0.41 and €1.55 respectively.

The RF MGS Index moved 0.13% higher to 1,105.920 points as economic data in the euro area continued to be mixed with German import prices and French consumer spending drifting lower than anticipated whilst in Italy, GDP contracted by 5.4% in Q1 2020 when compared to the same period last year. On the other hand, German retail sales fell by much less than expected whilst French GDP in Q1 2020 contracted by 5.3% compared to the earlier forecast of -5.8%.