GlobalCapital Financial Management Ltd - Malta Stock Exchange Review
Banking stocks bounce back
Yesterday, the index recovered some of the losses posted in recently, closing up by 1.19 per cent at 3488.98 points. The shares of Bank of Valletta p.l.c. and HSBC Bank Malta p.l.c. were in the limelight as both stocks made some headway. RS2 Software p.l.c., MaltaPost p.l.c., Grand Harbour Marina p.l.c. and Crimsonwing p.l.c. were the decliners of the day.
On a positive note, Bank of Valletta p.l.c. acted as the most influential leader on the upside, after benefiting from sufficient buying interest to push the share price up €13c0 to the €3.72 level across 13,871 shares. At market close, best unsatisfied bids stood at €3.70 for 540 shares against best offers of 2,500 shares at €3.80.
Remaining on the banking front the shares of HSBC Bank Malta p.l.c. registered a satisfactory €5c0 gain to finish at €2.90. The turnover amounted to 19,415 shares and exchanged across eighteen trades. The lowest traded price during the session was €2.86, whereas the highest traded price of the day was €2.901.
A total of 2,680 shares dealt in over four deals, caused the price of GO p.l.c. to increase by €2c0 to read €2.02. At the end of trading, bids for 2,000 shares stood at €2.02, whereas the best offer for 417 shares stood at €2.09. Week on week, GO p.l.c. declined 8.2 per cent from its closing price of €2.20 on Tuesday 7 October.
On the other side of the spectrum, RS2 Software p.l.c. and MaltaPost p.l.c. traded €1c8 and €2c0 lower to close the second session of the week at €0.803 and €0.80 respectively.
Furthermore, the shares of Grand Harbour Marina p.l.c. and Crimsonwing p.l.c. were also hit. Their share price lost €0c1 and €0c2 at €2.199 and €0.498 respectively.
Elsewhere, Lombard Bank p.l.c. and International Hotel Investments p.l.c. were the non-movers of the day leaving their previous market price at €3.00 and €0.97 respectively.
FIMBank p.l.c. announced on Friday 10 October that in their Report accompanying the unaudited financial results for the six months ended 30 June 2008, the Directors expressed confidence that despite challenging outlooks in most of the OECD and the inevitable effect which trade linkages could have on emerging markets, including major developing countries, improving economic prospects in these markets, as well as high commodity, shipping and oil prices, would continue to present opportunities for the FIMBank Group to profit and grow. By September, global financial markets conditions had deteriorated, with governments around the world taking action and measures to support their banking systems and provide liquidity, and a global concerted move by major central banks to cut interest rates being the latest measure to restore calm in the markets. In this respect, the Board welcomes with satisfaction the statements made by the Maltese authorities about the soundness of the banking and financial system, their readiness to support the banks as well as the measures to strengthen confidence by, amongst other things, increasing the levels of deposit protection beyond the minimum agreed at the ECOFIN in Luxembourg on 7th October 2008. During the period under review the financial position of the Group has remained sound and, based on the unaudited and unpublished consolidated management accounts for the nine months ended 30th September 2008 and other financial information available, the performance of the Group to date, even after excluding the one-off gain on the disposal of the holding in GTF India, confirms that the strategic decisions made by the Company, particularly the diversification through new investments, products and markets, have been the right ones.
Yesterday, in the fixed interest market, a total of €20,448 (3 Deals) were transacted in Government Bonds, whereas a total of €89,417 (11 Deals) were transacted in Corporate Bonds.
The turnover value in the Treasury Bill secondary market amounted to €27,805.
Issued by GlobalCapital Financial Management Ltd, 120 The Strand, Gzira, GZR1027 for information purposes only and is not intended to constitute any financial, legal or tax advice. This write up is not to be taken as investment advice to buy or sell any investment. Investors should seek professional advice prior to taking investment decisions and should note that the value of investments may fall as well as rise. Readers who would like more information are invited to send an E-mail to [email protected] or Tel: 21 342342. GlobalCapital Financial Management Ltd is a member of the Malta Stock Exchange and is licensed by the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA).
