SFC tops equity appreciation list, Maltacom carries 37% of MSE total trading

27 Dec 00 – 2 Jan 2001

By David Lindsay

Trading on the Malta Stock Exchange this year has been interesting and varied, but perhaps not quite as varied as many would have hoped. On a general note, listed equities on the Exchange tended to peak at the year’s inception, trailing off toward the year’s middle while reaching their lows, or close to their lows, now at the year’s end .
With a mere three days of trading left on the Exchange this year, and with the exemption of Plaza Centres, HSBC and International Hotel Investments, all equities listed on the Malta Stock Exchange have registered an appreciation so far this year in closing price.
None more so than Simonds Farsons Cisk shares, which topped the equity growth list, by appreciating 52.07 per cent since the inception of the year’s trading. The percentage represents a rise of 33.9c in closing price(also the largest rise in fiscal terms), as the equity had opened the year’s trading at Lm0.651 while its last close was just under the Lm1 mark at Lm0.99.
The end of January saw the equity reached its short-lived yearly peak of Lm1.20, preceded by a close of Lm1.161 and followed the next day by a close of Lm1.157. The equity had lingered at a low of Lm0.65 during the year’s initial stages.
This year has seen the equity trading at a total value of Lm735,078 – at a volume of 821,768 in 572 deals.
HSBC, on the other hand, has provided investors with the largest depreciation this year, dropping by 29c in closing price. Staring the year off at Lm6.79 and closing last at Lm6.50 the fluctuation represents a 4.27 per cent drop in value.
January was the wise investor’s time of year to shift the shares, as they had peaked at a whopping Lm7.601 at the time, while bottoming out this year at Lm6.20 in mid-September. The equity has contributed Lm16,969,940 to the Exchange’s total trading value this year and had conducted such activity in 2,358,706 trades in 1,385 deals.
Maltacom on its own, meanwhile, has accounted for 37 per cent of the entire value of trading carried out on the Exchange this year. 3,383,967 Maltacom shares have been traded in 6,442 deals – at a total value of Lm29,490,416.

The equity has appreciated by 20c from its year’s opening price of Lm2.40, now resting at Lm2.60 – representing a rise of 8.33 per cent.
Since the equity’s end-March peak of Lm3.284, it has persisted in declining in closing price, reaching a low of Lm2.50 in mid-November.
Bank of Valletta shares have appreciated 3.63 per cent, or 17c, this year by opening the year’s trading at Lm4.68 and closing last at Lm4.85. Total trading in the equity this year has accounted for a total value of Lm,17,386,765 – with a volume of 3,383,967 seen through in 3,137 deals.
Like most other equities listed on the Exchange, BoV shares saw their peak in the year’s initial months and have fallen steadily since. The equity had peaked at Lm5.88 in mid-January and saw its low of Lm4.60 at the end of September.
Lombard Bank shares, currently resting at Lm4.75, have appreciated over the year’s trading by 2.7 per cent – 12.5c up from in year’s opening of Lm4.625.
The equity saw its peak this year with Lm5.201 at the end of January, while attaining a low of Lm4.50 at September’s close.
This year, Lombard shares have traded at a total value of Lm5,307,401 in 427 deals with a total volume of 1,101,025.
Middle Sea Insurance shares have risen in value by 9.45 per cent, or 32.9c, this year by climbing from its yearly opening of Lm3.483 to its last closing of Lm3.812.
Selling time was ripe in this equity this year at January’s close as it had peaked at Lm5, while the ideal time to buy was at the beginning of January, when the equity’s shares price was lingering at a low of Lm3.843.
This year, Middle Sea Insurance shares have seen a total trading value of Lm2,117,081 – all seen through in 385 trades with a total volume of 491,958.
Suncrest Hotels shares, meanwhile, has grown in worth by 3.5c – or 5.56 per cent – this year and the equity’s closing price now stands at Lm0.665. The equity’s activity has been relatively subdued this year, in fact it has been subject to the lowest volume of trading so far this year. The value of trading in the equity this year has amounted to Lm80,367, with a volume of 117,094 in 82 deals.
Suncrest Hotel shares peaked this year at Lm0.77 at the close of January, while bottoming out at Lm0.55 in mid-July.
International Hotel Investments, despite being listed on the Exchange in June, has seen fairly heavy trading this year but has declined in price.
The equity has been responsible for Lm5,578,358 worth of trading this year in 232 deals that were responsible for a total volume of 5,602,853.
While the equity had opened the year at Lm0.969, it dropped by 1.9c, or 1.96 per cent, to Lm0.95. IHI shares this year had reached a high of Lm1 during its premier month of June, while reaching a low of Lm0.85 in mid-November.
Plaza Centres, also introduced to the Exchange in June, has shed 3.1c, or 3.44 per cent, off its closing price since the year’s inception.
The equity had opened the year at Lm0.90 and its last closing was of 0.869. While 175 deals throughout the year were responsible for a volume of 1,930,379 shares being dealt at a total value of Lm1,841,101, the equity reached a high of Lm0.97 in August and has declined steadily since then to a low of Lm0.865 just this month.

The Business Times, Network House, Vjal ir-Rihan San Gwann SGN 07
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