The Malta Stock Exchange Equity Price Index added to Monday's gains as it advanced by a further 0.13% to 3,947.656 points on Tuesday. Malita and Mapfre Middlesea trended in positive territory whilst HSBC and BMIT edged lower as five other companies ended the day unchanged. Trading activity remained subdued as only €0.1 million worth of shares changed hands.
Malita Investments plc climbed by 2.2% to a six-month high of €0.93 across 17,014 shares.
The other positive performing equity today was Mapfre Middlesea plc as it surged by almost 7% to the €2.16 level albeit on trivial volumes.
Very low trading activity took place in a number of other equities. In the retail banking sector, Bank of Valletta plc and Lombard Bank Malta plc traded flat at €0.98 and €2.06 respectively. BOV will publish its interim financial statements on Friday.
A single deal of 895 shares left the equity of Malta International Airport plc at the €5.50 level. MIA on Wednesday will publish the interim financial statements for the six-month period ended 30 June, 2020.
GO plc and International Hotel Investments plc also closed unchanged at €3.44 and €0.54 respectively.
On Tuesday, GO held its AGM during which shareholders approved all resolutions that were placed on the agenda including the payment of a net dividend of €0.10 per share for the 2019 financial year. The dividend will be paid on Thursday 30 July to all shareholders as at close of trading on 28 April 2020.
Meanwhile, BMIT Technologies plc slipped by 1.2% back to the €0.48 level. BMIT will publish its interim results on Friday 7 August.
HSBC Bank Malta plc lost 2.1% to the €0.93 level on a total of 5,207 shares. The bank will publish its interim financial statements on Monday.
Harvest Technology plc issued its interim financial results showing a near 20% increase in revenues to just under €9 million and a 25.4% surge in net profits to €1.2 million. The stronger performance was led by the company’s payment gateway subsidiary as well as the income from a new contract in Mauritius.
Harvest noted that the results were much better than previously anticipated although future developments remain uncertain due to prevailing situation related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Board of Directors resolved to distribute a net interim dividend of €0.024 per share to all shareholders as at close of trading tomorrow. The payment of the dividend will take place by not later than 14 August 2020.
The RF MGS Index erased some of Monday's sharp drop as it rebounded by 0.13% to 1,107.079 points.
Changes in the prices of Malta Government Stocks mirrored movements in German and Spanish sovereign bond yields as these trended lower amid uncertainties over a new round of fiscal stimulus in the US. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve announced an extension through the end of 2020 of its various emergency lending facilities that were scheduled to expire on or around 30 September 2020.