Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1048856
maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 7 NOVEMBER 2018 12 BUSINESS Market Summary as at 06/11/2018 Equities Official List Session State: ................................................................. Open Trading Date: .................................................................. 06-Nov-2018 Number of Trades: ........................................................... 50 Turnover: ....................................................................... €570,574.66 MSE TRX Index: ............................................................... 8,873.852 (Change: 0.170%) Bank of Valletta plc ............................. 1.340 0.00% Mapfre Middlesea plc .......................... 1.930 0.00% FIMBank plc ....................................... 0.770 1.32% MIDI plc .............................................. 0.720 0.00% GlobalCapital plc ................................ 0.268 0.00% Plaza Centres plc ................................ 1.040 0.00% GO plc ................................................ 4.000 0.00% RS2 Software plc ................................ 1.140 0.00% Grand Harbour Marina plc .................. 0.750 0.00% Simonds Farsons Cisk plc .................... 8.100 1.25% HSBC Bank Malta plc ........................... 1.750 0.00% Tigné Mall plc ..................................... 0.920 0.00% International Hotel Investments plc .... 0.610 0.00% Pefaco International plc ..................... 2.240 0.00% Lombard Bank Malta plc ..................... 2.400 0.00% Santumas Shareholdings plc .............. 1.410 0.00% Malita Investments plc......................... 0.880 0.00% Malta Properties Company plc ............. 0.520 0.00% Malta International Airport plc ............ 6.100 -1.61% PG plc ................................................. 1.360 0.00% MaltaPost plc ...................................... 1.620 0.00% Trident Estates plc .............................. 1.490 7.19% Medserv plc ....................................... 1.020 0.00% Main Street Complex plc ..................... 0.650 0.00% MSE Index Regular market closed – 07/11/2018 Symbol Code Volume Traded Value Traded Trades High Price Low Price Open Price Close Price Change ▲ BOV 37,355 50,400.19 7 1.365 1.340 1.365 1.350 0.010 ▲ FIM 84,620 65,818.32 3 0.780 0.770 0.770 0.780 0.010 ▼ GO 1,500 5,970.00 1 3.980 3.980 3.980 3.980 -0.020 ● HSB 9,977 17,459.75 3 1.750 1.750 1.750 1.750 0.000 ▲ LQS 3,000 255.00 1 0.085 0.085 0.085 0.085 0.010 ● MIA 12,000 73,200.00 4 6.100 6.100 6.100 6.100 0.000 ● MPC 2,060 1,071.20 1 0.520 0.520 0.520 0.520 0.000 ● MSC 122,329 79,513.85 1 0.650 0.650 0.650 0.650 0.000 ● PG 1,550 2,108.00 1 1.360 1.360 1.360 1.360 0.000 ▼ PZC 3,000 3,090.00 1 1.030 1.030 1.030 1.030 -0.010 ● RS2 1,684 1,919.76 1 1.140 1.140 1.140 1.140 0.000 ● STS 132 186.12 1 1.410 1.410 1.410 1.410 0.000 ▼ G21A 22,000 24,899.60 1 113.180 113.180 113.180 113.180 -0.020 ▼ G22A 1,748 2,054.77 1 117.550 117.550 117.550 117.550 -0.030 ▼ G29A 14,000 18,845.40 1 134.610 134.610 134.610 134.610 -0.330 ▼ G29B 18,000 19,186.20 2 106.590 106.590 106.590 106.590 -0.260 ▼ G36A 30,000 31,995.00 2 106.650 106.650 106.650 106.650 -0.180 ▲ G39A 142,000 143,156.68 6 101.750 100.160 100.750 101.750 0.750 ▼ G41A 1,900 1,984.74 1 104.460 104.460 104.460 104.460 -0.740 ▲ CB21A 5,000 5,250.50 1 105.010 105.010 105.010 105.010 0.010 ▲ CF26A 18,200 18,855.20 2 103.600 103.600 103.600 103.600 0.100 ▼ IH24A 14,600 15,685.10 2 108.490 104.200 104.200 108.490 -0.110 ● IH25A 700 745.50 1 106.500 106.500 106.500 106.500 0.000 ▲ PG22A 15,000 16,501.50 1 110.010 110.010 110.010 110.010 0.010 ▼ SD27A 12,000 12,472.60 2 103.950 103.930 103.950 103.930 -0.020 ▲ SF27A 2,800 2,968.00 1 106.000 106.000 106.000 106.000 0.250 ● ST27A 20,000 20,800.00 1 104.000 104.000 104.000 104.000 0.000 BUSINESSES are upbeat about their prospects, encouraged by customer demand and favoura- ble economic conditions, but are revising their strategies as pro- tectionism dents the outlook for international trade, according to a new HSBC survey of over 8,500 companies: 'Navigator: Now, next and how for business'. More than three quarters (78%) of companies are positive about the trading environment, ris- ing to 86% in ASEAN countries and 82% in the EU, according to the 34-market report. Over a third (35%) expect increas- ing consumption to be the top driver of their growth in the next year, with almost as many (33%) focusing on the economic envi- ronment and 32% on technology to increase efficiencies or devel- op new products and services. Yet at the same time, political headwinds are gaining strength as 63% of firms think govern- ments are becoming more pro- tective of their home economies, up 2 percentage points since the first quarter of 2018. For those companies with a negative out- look on their company's pros- pects, tariffs and the US-China trade dispute are the main rea- sons for pessimism (31% each). The cost of tariffs is the top concern for US firms with a negative outlook (60%), while in mainland China and Hong Kong the political dispute with the US is the greatest concern (65% and 53% respectively). In Russia (46%), Germany (39%) and Tur- key (36%), it is the wider context of geo-political tensions that alarms them most. Reflecting these uncertainties, many companies are turning their attention to intra-regional rather than inter-regional trad- ing opportunities. When asked about their top targets for fu- ture trade growth, the number of European companies citing Asian markets dropped from 26% in the first quarter to 13% now, North American firms cit- ing Asia fell from 33% to 15%, and Asian companies citing North America slipped from 29% to 21%. At the same time, more North American compa- nies plan to trade within their home region in the next three to five years (+5pp to 38%), and more Asia-Pacific companies are looking at China specifically as a future growth market (+4pp to 16%). Noel Quinn, Chief Executive of Global Commercial Banking at HSBC, said that businesses were staying positive, but signalling to policymakers that protectionism is a significant concern that's reducing their appetite to grow through international trade. "Some are looking closer to home for opportunities, and many are adapting their ap- proach to stay fit for the future," he said. "We expect technology, digitisation and data to play an increasingly important strategic role by enabling businesses to develop their products and ser- vices, reach new customers and cut costs by improving opera- tional efficiency." The Navigator survey also shows that more than half of companies (51%) expect that free trade agreements, where Businesses alter course as political headwinds threaten the global trade they apply to their country and industry, will benefit them over the next three years. FTAs are particularly popular in emerging markets, with 60% of firms say- ing they will have a positive im- pact, compared to 45% of firms in developed markets. This divergence can also been seen in perceptions of the im- pact of new regulations. While businesses in Ireland (61%), the US (44%), Singapore (40%) and China (37%) worry about regu- lations increasing the cost of doing business, their peers in countries including Vietnam (45%), Thailand (43%), India (39%) and the UAE (37%) think regulations will increase their competitiveness. Looking at growth drivers within their direct control, the top two priorities for compa- nies over the past two years have been to expand into new mar- kets (28%) and into new prod- ucts or services (25%). Looking ahead two years, their top priori- ty (31%) is to grow market share, closely followed by an emphasis on skills development and pro- ductivity enhancements (29%). Here, technology will have a key role to play. More than one in five (22%) businesses has in- vested in research and and tech- nology over the last two years, three quarters (75%) are looking to data to drive business optimi- zation and more than a quarter (26%) consider technological advancement the top reason for choosing a supplier after cost and quality of their products.