The MSE Equity Price Index erased all of last Friday’s decline as it inched 0.05% higher to 4,030.120 points as the gains in BOV outweighed the drops in HSBC, RS2 ordinary shares and BMIT. Meanwhile, MPC and the new RS2 preference shares closed flat as overall trading activity amounted to just under €0.1 million.
Bank of Valletta plc closed at a near 4-week high as it advanced by 2.2% to the €0.92 level across 30,000 shares. Last week, the bank announced the full transition from Raiffeisen Bank to Western Union in relation to payments in USD.
Moreover, BOV also published a Quarterly Update wherein it explained that revenues decreased by 4% in Q1 2021 but operating costs increased by 4% mainly due to increases in employee compensation, investment in technology, and higher amortisation charges. The bank’s financial performance in the first three months of the year was also negatively impacted by impairment charges related to long-outstanding non-performing loans. Overall, BOV posted a pre-tax profit of €9.3 million in Q1 2021 which is in line with the performance recorded during the same period in 2020. Looking ahead, the bank explained that it continues to focus on its operations with a view of increasing efficiencies and enhance customer experience.
In the same sector, HSBC Bank Malta plc eased by 1.2% to the €0.82 level as 21,534 shares changed hands.
BMIT Technologies plc declined by 2% as it fell back to the €0.49 level across 51,831 shares.
The ordinary share price of RS2 Software plc trended 1.1% lower to the €1.88 level on 4,450 shares whilst a single deal of 5,000 shares left the new RS2 preference shares at the €1.75 level.
Elsewhere, Malta Properties Company plc recovered from an intraday low of €0.535 (-1.8%) to close unchanged at the €0.545 level on a total of 15,328 shares.
The RF MGS Index started the week 0.22% lower as it slipped to 1,104.860 points after the Eurozone Sentix Investor Confidence Index surged to its highest level in more than three years. Meanwhile, the upward trend in commodity prices continued amid expectations of an imminent global economic recovery, with iron ore prices rising by 10%. Meanwhile in the US, last Friday’s ransomware attack on the Colonial Pipeline, the country’s largest network for refined fuel, exposed the vulnerability of US energy infrastructure and resulted in a surge in fuel prices.