Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1058684
maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 5 DECEMBER 2018 12 BUSINESS Market Summary as at 04/12/2018 Equities Official List Session State: .................................................................. Market Open Trading Date: ................................................................... 04-Dec-2018 Number of Trades: ........................................................... 100 Turnover: ........................................................................ €1,303,480.74 MSE TRX Index: ................................................................ 8,892.761 (Change: -0.168%) Bank of Valletta plc ............................. 1.310 -1.50% Mapfre Middlesea plc .......................... 1.990 0.51% FIMBank plc ........................................ 0.785 -0.63% MIDI plc .............................................. 0.695 0.00% GlobalCapital plc ................................. 0.268 0.00% Plaza Centres plc ................................. 1.020 0.00% GO plc ................................................. 3.900 0.00% RS2 Software plc ................................. 1.150 0.00% Grand Harbour Marina plc ................... 0.730 0.00% Simonds Farsons Cisk plc .................... 8.200 0.00% HSBC Bank Malta plc ........................... 1.800 0.00% Tigné Mall plc...................................... 0.920 0.00% IHI plc ................................................. 0.600 0.00% Pefaco International plc ...................... 2.240 0.00% Lombard Bank Malta plc ...................... 2.400 0.00% Santumas Shareholdings plc ............... 1.420 0.00% Malita Investments plc......................... 0.870 0.00% Malta Properties Company plc ............. 0.570 0.00% Malta International Airport plc ............. 6.200 0.81% PG plc ................................................. 1.360 0.00% MaltaPost plc ...................................... 1.620 0.00% Trident Estates plc ............................... 1.540 -0.65% Medserv plc ........................................ 1.200 0.00% Main Street Complex plc ...................... 0.650 0.00% MSE Index Regular market closed – 04/12/2018 Symbol Code Volume Traded Value Traded Trades High Price Low Price Open Price Close Price Change ● BOV 3,925 5,141.75 5 1.310 1.310 1.310 1.310 0.000 ▼ MDS 9,167 10,808.73 2 1.190 1.170 1.170 1.190 -0.010 ▼ MIA 330 2,023.25 2 6.150 6.100 6.150 6.100 -0.100 ▼ MTP 3,500 5,635.00 1 1.610 1.610 1.610 1.610 -0.010 ▼ G28B 9,000 11,518.20 1 127.980 127.980 127.980 127.980 -0.020 ● G29B 34,600 37,115.42 1 107.270 107.270 107.270 107.270 0.000 ▲ G31A 50,000 70,000.00 2 140.000 140.000 140.000 140.000 0.190 ▲ G33A 5,000 6,525.00 1 130.500 130.500 130.500 130.500 0.490 ▲ G39A 880,200 903,655.60 44 102.800 101.000 101.000 102.550 1.870 ▲ G40A 23,300 26,918.78 2 115.630 115.500 115.500 115.630 0.370 ▲ 1923A 6,800 7,063.50 2 104.000 103.500 103.500 104.000 0.500 ▼ BV30A 25,000 24,950.00 1 99.800 99.800 99.800 99.800 -0.190 ▲ BV30B 11,600 11,589.54 3 99.990 99.750 99.750 99.990 0.240 ● CF26A 2,200 2,288.00 1 104.000 104.000 104.000 104.000 0.000 ▲ DF26A 19,000 19,799.50 6 104.700 103.750 103.750 104.700 0.710 ● GP23A 13,000 13,658.00 2 105.100 105.000 105.100 105.000 0.000 ● HD26A 30,000 31,303.50 2 104.350 104.340 104.340 104.350 0.000 ● HF28A 17,500 17,937.50 3 102.500 102.500 102.500 102.500 0.000 ● HP25A 2,000 2,075.00 1 103.750 103.750 103.750 103.750 0.000 ▲ IB25A 10,900 11,227.00 2 103.000 103.000 103.000 103.000 1.000 ● IH26A 5,400 5,616.00 2 104.000 104.000 104.000 104.000 0.000 ● IH26B 11,000 11,222.22 3 102.030 102.000 102.000 102.030 0.000 ● MD26A 7,000 7,315.00 1 104.500 104.500 104.500 104.500 0.000 ▲ PC26A 11,200 11,610.25 3 103.750 103.000 103.000 103.750 0.750 ● SD27A 3,000 3,120.00 1 104.000 104.000 104.000 104.000 0.000 ● ST27A 15,000 15,548.00 2 104.000 103.480 104.000 103.480 0.000 ▲ TI27A 6,500 6,825.00 1 105.000 105.000 105.000 105.000 0.200 ▼ VH24A 15,000 15,375.00 1 102.500 102.500 102.500 102.500 -0.250 ● VR27A 5,400 5,616.00 2 104.000 104.000 104.000 104.000 0.000 THE Council of the Kamra tal-Periti has congratulated Parliamentary Secretary Rod- erick Galdes and his research team on the quality and thor- oughness of the consultation process carried out regarding the White Paper titled: Rent- ing as a Housing Alternative. It said this commendable effort should be set as a benchmark and a best-practice example for public consultation pro- cesses undertaken by other public entities in the future. The White Paper is a well- researched and well-founded document. It properly iden- tifies the problems with the rental market in Malta, and sets out a strategy to tackle these problems whilst keeping a balance between the interests of landlords and tenants. The impact of the current rental/ housing crisis is clearly and frankly outlined. The White Paper argues that the causes for the rental crisis lie both in the "burgeoning economy" but also in changing household composition. The White Paper quotes an increase in "family break- downs" and "single individu- als", as one of the primary causes. However, the analysis of the quoted statistics shows that this trend, although sig- nificant, is of the same order of magnitude as the number of applicants under the IIP, and many orders of magnitude lower than the impact of the rapid expansion of the foreign labour market. Nevertheless, the range of proposals outlined in the White Paper appear to have been carefully crafted to ad- dress current issues, without heavily intervening in market forces. This is commendable since heavy market interven- tion has proven unsuccessful in the past, in Malta and else- where. It remains to be seen whether the proposals will be sufficient to correct the cur- rent crisis. The Council of the Kamra tal-Periti put forward various suggestions and observations on a number of matters in re- action to the White Paper, in- cluding on the following: • Rent subsidies, which the Kamra suggests should be con- verted to a housing allowance, similar to the British housing benefit, while however keeping in mind the risk that increasing liquidity in the rental market coupled with sustained popu- lation growth would result in further inflationary pressures; • The right of the landlord to withdraw from contracts in certain cases, which may give rise to abuse, since the objec- tives of the proposed regula- tion may be completely cir- cumvented; • Pre-1995 leases, which are not addressed in the White Pa- per; • Affordable housing, which the White Paper terms as "the ultimate solution to the rental problem", and the proposal for a "third sector" of hous- ing provision, using innova- tive housing foundations or associations, or Public-Private Partnerships; • The introduction of Real Estate Investment Trusts (RE- ITs), which the Kamra believes to be long overdue; • Reliance on private sup- ply, which the White Paper declares to have "failed", and which in the Kamra's opinion is a result of the complete ab- sence of the role of urban plan- ning in addressing the hous- ing crisis, and the absence of measures to create affordable housing through the planning gain instrument; • Social housing, which is sometimes confused with "af- fordable housing", is a solution which the Kamra sees as a tem- porary solution for those citi- zens who require it until they are able to move on to better prospects, and the suggestion that schemes for people to buy out their allocated "social" housing should be discontin- ued, since this effectively di- minishes Government's social housing stock, and, as has hap- pened in the past, effectively allows people to profit off pub- lic resources; • The introduction of hab- itability and quality stand- ards, which the Kamra agrees should be introduced without delay since the current crisis is not only due to high rental prices, but also the poor qual- ity of the part of the supply; • The importance of placing greater emphasis on the curb- ing of discriminatory practices against minorities and socially disadvantaged members of so- ciety, including low-income earners; • The compulsory registra- tion of contracts of lease, which the Kamra supports completely; and • The proposed establish- ment of a Rent Agency, and the Kamra's opinion that rather than establishing a new agency, the Housing Authority should be thoroughly reformed such that the regulation of the housing sector becomes its primary function. The Kamra tal-Periti con- siders the White Paper as a positive document which, on the basis of detailed research, proposes a number of regula- tory mechanisms to address the current housing crisis. The proposed mechanisms now have to be fine-tuned and em- braced by the political leader- ship. Kamra tal-Periti on renting as housing alternative