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The Malta Stock Exchange Index touched an all-time high at 4,031 points this week but some profit taking meant that the Index closed the week just shy of the resistant 4,000 level. In effect all equities trading during the week registered gains across a healthy activity.
The highest gains for the week were registered in two of the most battered shares so far this year, namely Datatrak Holdings and International Hotel Investments which both touched their all time-lows during the course of this year. The former listed on the Alternative Companies List of the Exchanged, registered a double-digit growth, climbing by 12 per cent to Lm0.347. Meanwhile shares in International Hotel Investment rallied by 7 per cent to regain the Euro0.75 level.
Trading in the banking sector was quite volatile, with the two major banks closing with different fortunes. Bank of Valletta shares traded within a high of Lm5.65 and a low of Lm5.50. By the end of Friday’s session the equity was up by 1.8 per cent to Lm5.60c1. On their part HSBC Bank Malta closed at the lower end of the week’s trade range after experiencing an unexpected rally during Tuesday’s session. At Lm6.26, the equity still managed to register a gain of 0.6 per cent compared to the previous week.
Also in the banking sector, shares of First International Merchant Bank and Lombard Bank rallied significantly over the five day stretch, increasing by 5.7 per cent and 2.2 per cent, respectively. The latter continued to break new highs, this time touching an intra-session record price of Lm7.01.
Maltacom shares maintained their positive momentum adding another 0.8 per cent to Lm1.56c1 on the back of significant progress on the privatisation front. A company announcement published last week evidenced that the first phase of the privatisation process is now over and a short-listing exercise has been conducted. Activity in the equity consisted of 76,006 shares which were exchanged over 75 deals.
In the remaining trades for the week, noteworthy were the gains registered by Middlesea Insurance which advanced by 3.1 per cent. The equity benefited from the sale by the Government of 7.2 per cent of the issued share capital of the company to Munich Re, which was undertaken in the previous week. Elsewhere in the market both Simonds Farsons Cisk and Malta International Airport both managed to register a slim gain.
Trading activity in the fixed income market was mainly concentrated in government paper, where trading amounted to Lm736,600 nominal, spread across 115 deals.
This article was compiled by BOV Stockbrokers Ltd, a member of the BOV Group. BOVSL’s offices are situated at 106, St John Square, Valletta VLT 10. You can also contact BOVSL by email at bovsl@bov.com, by phoning on 21227370/1/4 or else visit he website at www.bovsl.com
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