Daily Market Highlights (29.11.10)

  • Local equity market in negative territory for the third consecutive session. MSE Share Index down 0.7% today to 3,466.334 points as HSBC, IHI, Lombard and MaltaPost all trade lower offsetting the recovery in GO and FIMBank. Meanwhile BOV and RS2 close unchanged. Download a copy of today’s Equity Market Summary.
  • General Public Offer of MIDI plc share issue now open. The Company is issuing 44,444,444 shares at a price of €0.45 per share with an over-allotment option of up to a further 22,222,222 shares. Further details available here.
  • HSBC share price down 1.7% to €2.89 as fresh sale orders enter the market. 16,450 shares exchanged across twelve trades. Other bids remained unsatisfied at the closing price whilst lowest offers now placed at the €2.93 level. Recently the Bank published its Interim Directors’ Statement explaining that the positive trend of the first half of the year was maintained during the subsequent months. Further details available here.
  • Meanwhile BOV maintains the €3.68 level on volumes of 11,672 shares. Investors acquiring BOV shares until 7 January 2011 will be entitled to the 1 for 5 bonus issue. Details of September 2010 financial results available here.
  • After holding on to the €0.77 level since 8 November, IHI’s share price today eased 1.3% lower to close at the €0.76 level – just above its 2010 low. Two trades amounting to 7,160 shares effected today with further bids outstanding at the last traded price and lowest offers now pitched at the €0.77 level.
  • MaltaPost reverses most of last week’s 2.5% rise as a trade late in the session forced the postal operator’s share price to drop back to the €0.93 level representing a 2.1% drop from the previous close. Just over 8,600 shares change hands today with bids already placed higher at the equity’s 2010 high of €0.95. The postal operator is expected to publish its full-year results in January.
  • Low volumes again push Lombard’s share price lower. A single trade of 2,000 shares transacted this morning at the €2.53 level representing a 1.6% drop from the previous close. Earlier this month the Bank issued its Interim Directors’ Statement reassuring investors that Lombard Bank is expected to remain on course towards the attainment of another positive set of financial results for the year ending 31 December 2010.
  • Fresh bids helped GO edge 0.5% higher to regain the €1.91 level across eight trades amounting to 16,840 shares. However offers already placed lower at €1.90 whilst best bids still placed at the €1.87 level. Meanwhile Forthnet this afternoon announced that one of its three largest shareholders Cyrte Investments GP I B.V. last week purchased 7.3 million shares at a price of €0.36 per share. Over the past two weeks almost 30 million Forthnet shares traded representing 19.1% of the total issued share capital of the Greek telecoms operator. Last Friday alone there was a single trade of over 14.1 million shares.
  • FIMBank also in positive territory today. The share price of the trade finance specialist edges 2.2% higher to regain the US$0.95 level on increased volumes of over 74,389 shares. Best bids pitched at US$0.94 whilst lowest offers in the market at the €0.975 level.
  • A single trade of 1,500 RS2 Software shares transacted at the €0.50 level, unchanged from the previous close. Further offers unsatisfied at the closing price whilst best bids still pitched at the €0.25 level.