Daily Market Highlights (31.05.12)

  • MSE Share Index edged marginally higher to 3,028.56 points following gains in the equities of Simonds Farsons Cisk and GO. RS2 drops 1.9% with BOV and FIMBank unchanged. Download a copy of the equity market summary here.
  • On the local bond market, the Rizzo Farrugia MGS index continued to rise closing at 989.953 points as the Central Bank of Malta adjusted the bid prices upwards reflecting the continued downturn in Eurozone 10-year yields to fresh lows of 1.233% as investors continued to seek safer investments in the light of the ongoing European debt crisis.
  • Simonds Farsons advanced by 2.3% to €1.995 on a single trade of 1,180. On 25 April Simonds Farsons Cisk published their full year results for financial year ended 31 January 2012. The Group announced an increase of 26.1% in profit after tax to a record €4.7 million (2011: €3.7 million). The Board of Directors proposed a final net dividend of €0.0567 per share payable on 21 June.
  • GO maintained their upward momentum as the equity advanced to €0.90 on volumes of 10,620 shares. GO’s equity gained 28.6% since the recent all-time low of €0.70.
  • Activity in Bank of Valletta was subdued with only 4,830 shares changing hands across 5 deals. The equity closed unchanged at €2.08 with offers already placed at €2.079.
  • FIMBank also closed the day unchanged at the USD 0.85 level on activity of 16,724 shares. A further 173,710 shares remained on offer in the market at this level.
  • The only other active equity was that of RS2 Software plc. The equity of the software company eased by 1.9% to €0.51 on volumes of 29,000 shares. The company is scheduled to hold its Annual General Meeting on 12 June. During the meeting, shareholders will be asked to approve the 1 for 15 bonus share issue.