MSE Index starts the year in the red
The
failed to maintain its positive trend from the previous month, and ended the month in the red. The index fell by 4.5% to 7,831.381 points. A total of 25 issues were active during the month, four of which traded in positive territory and 19 closed in the opposite direction. Medserv Regis plc (+13.9%), Harvest Technology plc (+4.8%), BMIT Technologies plc (+3.3%) and RS2 Software plc Preference shares (+2.4%) were the only positive performers. Total turnover almost doubled from December’s figure, as €3.1m was generated across 455 transactions.
Bank of Valletta plc registered the highest liquidity of €0.75 million as a result of 117 trades. The equity traded between a high of €0.90 and a low of €0.80 to end the month €0.04 or 4.4% lower at €0.86.
Its peer, HSBC Bank Malta plc also closed in negative territory, after 67 transactions deteriorated the share price by 2.2% to the €0.90 level. HSBC generated a turnover of €0.4m. The equity reached a monthly low of €0.85 but managed to partially recoup by the end of the month. The bank announced that a board meeting will be held on February 22, 2022 to approve Final Audited Accounts for the financial year ended December 31, 2021 and to consider the declaration or otherwise of a final dividend to be recommended to the bank’s Annual General Meeting which will be held remotely on April 13, 2022.
Hili Properties plc closed unchanged at €0.27, as 259,750 shares exchanged ownership across 24 transactions. The company announced that although the acquisition of a commercial property located in Warsaw, Poland did not materialise, its Lithuanian subsidiary company, Premier Estates Lietuva UAB, has purchased Indev UAB for €20,850,979. This land comprises a 19,000 square metre factory which has been leased to REHAU Production LT, UAB, a leading provider of solutions to the construction, automotive and industrial industries. This asset in Lithuania increased the company’s portfolio from €115 million to €135 million.
FIMBank plc was the worst performing equity, as it registered a double-digit loss of 20.6%. The banking equity closed at $0.27, as 265,059 shares traded across 18 transactions.
Similarly, MAPFRE Middlesea plc ended the month with a double-digit decline of 13%, as a result of a single transaction of 5,060 shares. The share price dropped to €2.00. The company announced that the board is scheduled to meet on March 23, 2022 to consider and approve the company’s audited financial statements for the financial year ended December 31, 2021 and to consider the declaration of a dividend, if any, to be recommended to the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders. Lombard Bank Malta plc closed the month unchanged at €1.95. Two transactions of 6,716 shares were executed.
The previous month’s gain for Malta International Airport plc shares proved unsustainable, since during January the equity declined by 5% to the €5.70 level. A total of 26 trades involving 31,086 shares were executed – traded between a monthly high of €5.90 and a low of €5.70. A total of 2,540,335 passengers travelled through our Airport last year. While this full-year traffic result translates into an increase of 45.3% over 2020 figures, it marks a recovery of just 34.8% of 2019 passenger numbers.
A look at Malta International Airport’s monthly traffic performance shows that after the first half of the year, air travel started to gain momentum on the back of increased stability and an improvement in consumer confidence, with passenger movements for the third quarter of 2021 more than tripling over the previous quarter.
Data released by Airports Council International shows that at 33.5%, Malta’s recovery for the period between January and November 2021 still lagged behind that of Southern European peers such as Greece, Cyprus, Spain and Portugal, despite Malta International Airport’s success in retaining more than 70% of its connections for 2019 throughout the year under review.
The food and beverage company, Simonds Farsons Cisk plc, erased the previous month’s positive gain of 13.5%, to drop by 15.5% to the €8.15 price level. A total turnover of €111,854 was generated as a result of 12 transactions.
The retail conglomerate, PG plc, lost ground as 12 deals of 33,550 shares pushed the share price to the €2.30 level, 4.2% lower. PG traded at a high of €2.40 and a low of €2.30.
GO plc shares registered a decline of 4.2% to close the month at €3.22, as 31 transactions of 67,035 shares were executed. The telecommunications service provider followed December’s negative trend. Its subsidiary, BMIT Technologies plc, progressed by €0.016 or 3.3%, thus reversing all of the loss registered last month. In total, 29 transactions were executed over 629,260 shares, to close at €0.496, having recovered from a monthly low of €0.476. A turnover of €304,673 was generated.
RS2 Software plc Preference shares was one of the few successful equities, as it advanced by 2.4%. Eight trades of 16,100 shares pushed the share price to €1.69, registering a turnover of €27,452. On the other hand, the company’s ordinary shares traded 17 times over 60,508 shares to end the month 1.7% lower at €1.71.
Main Street Complex plc declined by 2.1% on muted activity. Two deals involving 40,00 shares dragged the price to €0.47.
A negative 1.6% movement in price was recorded by International Hotel Investments plc, as it closed off January at €0.61. This was the outcome of 18 deals involving 68,907 shares, which generated a turnover of €41,800.
MaltaPost plc shed 2.5% during January, as it ended the month at €1.19. This was the result of 11,080 shares spread across four transactions. The company announced that the Annual General Meeting will be held remotely on February 16, 2022.
Malta Properties Company plc saw its shares ease by 9.1% to close the month at €0.50. This decline resulted from 28