The MSE Equity Total Return Index closed the week in positive territory with a 0.1% gain, to close at 7,494.096 points. A total of 20 equities were active, of which seven headed north while another four closed in the red. Total weekly turnover doubled from the previous week, recording €1.9m generated across 168 transactions.
The MSE MGS Total Return Index declined 1.1% further reaching 876.018 points. Out of 17 active issues, 16 lost ground while one remained unchanged. The 2.4% MGS 2041 (I) (xd) headed the list of fallers, as it closed 9.8% lower at €80.31.
The MSE Corporate Bonds Total Return Index partially recovered the previous week’s decline, gaining 0.2%, to close at 1,122.168 points. A total of 51 issues were active, of which 14 registered gains, while another 20 declined. The top performer was the 3.75% Premier Capital plc Unsecured € 2026, with a 3.1% increase in price, to close at €99. On the other hand, the 3.5% AX Real Estate plc Unsecured € 2032 declined by 4.2%, to close at €91.
Top 10 Market Movements
The most liquid equity of the week was Bank of Valletta plc, as total turnover stood at €652,009. This was the result of 700,855 shares spread across 49 deals. The equity registered a positive performance of 2.2%, to reach the €0.94 level. The equity is up 16% year-to-date.
Similarly, 28 transactions involving 375,675 HSBC Bank Malta plc shares pushed the share price 1.1% higher. As a result, the equity recorded a total turnover of €351,076, to close at €0.94 – a year-to-date gain of 32.3%.
Lombard Bank Malta plc followed suit, as a single transaction of 14,757 shares pushed the share price 3.3% higher on Thursday. The banking equity ended the week at €0.95.
Likewise, GO plc gained 3.6%, as turnover stood at €44,312 over 10 transactions of 15,448 shares. The equity closed at €2.90.
A sole deal involving just 1,000 MIDI plc shares resulted into a 3.7% positive movement in price, as it closed at €0.28.
Similarly, the share price of Malita Investments plc advanced by 8.3%, as a single transaction worth €1,430 was executed.
Loqus Holdings plc registered a positive performance of 19.1%. The IT equity ended the week at €0.25, as a result of two deals worth just €691.
Meanwhile, FIMBank plc headed the list of fallers with a 12% decline, ending the week at $0.19. A total of 46,088 shares exchanged hands.
APS Bank plc shares failed to sustain an intra-week high of €0.62 reached on Wednesday, as it closed the week 4.1% lower at €0.59. A total of 17 deals involving 54,682 shares were executed.
On Tuesday, RS2 Software plc Ordinary shares partially recovered Monday’s 6.8% decline, ending the week 1.7% lower. The equity closed at €1.16, as seven deals were executed across 13,335 shares.
Company Announcements
The board of APS Bank plc announced that it is due to meet on March 9, 2023, to consider and approve the group’s and the bank’s audited financial statements for the financial year ended December 31, 2022. Furthermore, they are to consider the declaration of a dividend, if any, to be recommended to the annual general meeting.
During the week Malta International Airport’s (MIA) published the January traffic results. During January 2023, traffic surpassed 2019 passenger numbers for the first time since February 2020. January’s traffic tallied to 379,335 passenger movements, marking an increase of 3.6% compared to the same month in 2019.
While this result constitutes a significant milestone in the airport’s gradual recovery, the busiest start to the year at MIA remains January 2020 with 418,096 passenger movements. Almost 77% of the seats available on flights operated to and from MIA were occupied during January, indicating a healthy demand for travel. However, pent-up demand is expected to start levelling off as the year wears on.
MedservRegis plc announced that it has been awarded a contract by a major international oil company to provide integrated logistics services for its exploration activities taking place offshore Morocco. The contract duration is nine months with possible extensions. This newly awarded contract is not expected to require any significant capital expenditure and will permit leveraging the expert knowledge of the company in managing such a project delivered together with local partners. The award of this contract enforces the group’s strategy of broadening its geographical reach.
MAPFRE Middlesea plc announced that the company’s AGM will be held on April 28, 2023.
MaltaPost plc (MTP) held the AGM on February 16, 2023 during which all the ordinary and extraordinary resolutions on the agenda were approved. MTP declared a final ordinary gross dividend of €0.0615 (Net €0.04) per nominal €0.25 share, either in cash or by the issue of new shares at the option of each individual shareholder and to increase the issued share capital accordingly.
This article, which was compiled by Jesmond Mizzi Financial Advisors Limited, does not intend to give investment advice and the contents therein should not be construed as such. The Company is licensed to conduct investment services by the MFSA and is a Member of the Malta Stock Exchange and a member of the Atlas Group. The directors or related parties, including the company, and their clients are likely to have an interest in securities mentioned in this article. For further information contact Jesmond Mizzi Financial Advisors Limited at 67, Level 3, South Street, Valletta, or on Tel: 21224410, or email info@jesmondmizzi.com