MSE Equity Price Index falls to two-week low

 

The MSE Equity Price Index fell by 0.60% to a two-week low of 3,835.480 points as the declines in GO, FIMBank and the ordinary shares of RS2 outweighed the gains in Trident. Meanwhile, six other equities closed unchanged as today’s trading activity in local equities amounted to €0.29 million. Download today’s Equity Market Summary.

FIMBank plc slumped by 19.5% to a four-month low of USD0.161 on one trade of 7,838 shares.

A single deal of 443 pulled the share price of GO plc 3.3% lower to the €2.90 level.

The ordinary shares of RS2 plc decreased by 1.4% to a multi-year low of €0.69 over trivial volumes.

On the other hand, Trident Estates plc surged by 8.2% to the €1.19 level after recovering from an intraday low of €1.06 (-3.6%)

Bank of Valletta plc closed unchanged at the €1.67 level across twenty deals amounting to 97,576 shares.

Also in the banking sector, HSBC Bank Malta plc traded flat at the €1.64 level on muted activity.

Also among large companies by market value, Malta International Airport plc held the €6.10 level on a single trade of 9,695 shares.

Simonds Farsons Cisk plc traded flat at the €6.70 level as 5,875 shares changed hands.

PG plc closed unchanged at the €1.91 level over two deals amounting to 4,600 shares.

Ax Real Estate plc held the €0.45 level on one trade of 4,955 shares.

Yesterday, Main Street Complex plc published its interim financial statements covering the six-month period ended 30 June 2024. Revenues decreased by 7.1% to €0.36 million (H1 2023: €0.39 million) as certain tenants did not renew their lease agreement and another tenant needed to temporarily close due to refurbishment works. Meanwhile, operating costs increased by 6.1% to €0.17 million driven by higher upkeep and marketing expenses. As a result, operating profit fell by 15.9% to €0.20 million. After accounting for minimal finance costs and a tax charge of €0.06 million, the net profit for the period amounted to €0.14 million (H1 2023: €0.17 million), resulting in an annualised return on average equity of 2.6% (H1 2023: 3.1%). The Directors elected to distribute a net interim dividend of €0.0054 per share payable by Thursday 12 September 2024 to all shareholders as at close of trading on Wednesday 28 August 2024.

Yesterday, VBL plc published its interim financial statements covering the six-month period ended 30 June 2024. Revenues increased by 15.9% to €1.70 million (H1 2023: €1.47 million) driven by improvements in rental income from the hospitality segment. On the expenditure side, VBL’s net operating expenditure climbed 8.2% higher to €1.55 million (H1 2023: €1.43 million) as a result of higher administrative expenses and cost of sales.  After accounting for net finance costs of €0.09 million, VBL recorded a net profit for the period of €0.07 million, compared to €0.26 million in the first half of 2023.

The RF MGS Index rose by 0.29% to reach a seven-month high of 908.228 points. Estimates released today showed that the private sector in the eurozone is anticipated to grow for the sixth consecutive month in August. The increase is also higher than expected mainly driven by a strong performance in the services sector. Nonetheless, the private sector in Germany, eurozone’s largest economy, is projected to contract by more than expected as activity is now anticipated to decelerate even faster than the previous month. Notably, growth in German services was particularly subdued, falling to the lowest level since March.