Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/507285
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 6 MAY 2015 12 Business Today Regular market closed – 5/05/2015 Symbol Code Volume Traded Value Traded Trades High Price Low Price Open Price Close Price Change Twap ▲ BOV 46050 107648.150 17 2.351 2.330 2.330 2.340 0.010 2.338 ● HSB 77723 150005.390 17 1.930 1.930 1.930 1.930 0.000 1.930 ▲ MDS 16390 33984.500 5 2.200 2.050 2.050 2.200 0.170 2.073 ● MIA 2850 9946.500 1 3.490 3.490 3.490 3.490 0.000 3.490 ● MSI 530 646.600 1 1.220 1.220 1.220 1.220 0.000 1.220 ● G15A 4200 4215.120 1 100.360 100.360 100.360 100.360 0.000 100.360 ▼ G15B 24226 24829.230 2 102.490 102.490 102.490 102.490 -0.010 102.490 ▼ G16A 50918 53886.520 3 105.830 105.830 105.830 105.830 -0.020 105.830 ▲ G16B 28294 30365.120 3 107.320 107.320 107.320 107.320 0.010 107.320 ▲ G17C 99500 109515.000 6 110.400 110.040 110.040 110.400 0.340 110.070 ▼ G19A 83858 105493.360 1 125.800 125.800 125.800 125.800 -0.610 125.800 ▼ G19C 10000 11052.000 1 110.520 110.520 110.520 110.520 -0.240 110.520 ▼ G20A 11647 14289.710 2 122.690 122.690 122.690 122.690 -0.560 122.690 ▼ G21A 133032 166701.960 5 125.320 125.300 125.300 125.320 -0.140 125.310 ▼ G22A 33835 43515.390 4 128.620 128.610 128.610 128.620 -0.620 128.610 ▼ G22B 46000 56354.200 3 122.520 122.500 122.500 122.520 -0.220 122.510 ▼ G23A 2214 2964.330 2 133.890 133.890 133.890 133.890 -0.280 133.890 ● G24A 11500 13627.500 1 118.500 118.500 118.500 118.500 0.000 118.500 ▼ G28A 96500 132127.800 4 136.920 136.920 136.920 136.920 -0.450 136.920 ▼ G28B 408000 544577.600 23 133.480 133.470 133.480 133.470 -0.450 133.470 ▼ G29A 112300 159320.010 8 141.870 141.870 141.870 141.870 -0.510 141.870 ▼ G30A 198100 286472.410 14 144.610 144.610 144.610 144.610 -0.570 144.610 ▼ G31A 191000 276950.000 13 145.000 145.000 145.000 145.000 -0.700 145.000 ▼ G32A 424500 583999.350 28 137.580 137.570 137.570 137.570 -0.780 137.570 ▼ G32B 393500 530033.050 21 134.710 134.690 134.690 134.690 -0.780 134.700 ▼ G33A 600000 796800.000 33 132.800 132.800 132.800 132.800 -0.640 132.800 ▼ G34A 1131300 1482342.390 50 131.030 131.030 131.030 131.030 -0.680 131.030 ▼ G40AA 1495500 1711675.100 119 115.500 114.360 115.500 114.360 -1.640 114.460 ● BV20A 12400 13517.240 1 109.010 109.010 109.010 109.010 0.000 109.010 ▼ CF19A 11900 12085.550 3 101.650 101.450 101.650 101.450 -0.200 101.560 ● GH20A 4500 4997.250 1 111.050 111.050 111.050 111.050 0.000 111.050 ▲ HB18A 8100 8980.470 1 110.870 110.870 110.870 110.870 0.020 110.870 ● MB24A 2000 2140.000 1 107.000 107.000 107.000 107.000 0.000 107.000 ▲ MD18A 5000 5404.000 1 108.080 108.080 108.080 108.080 0.020 108.080 ● MI15A 40900 39782.700 3 97.510 96.750 97.510 96.750 0.000 97.270 ▲ MS23A 3400 3738.600 2 110.000 109.900 109.900 110.000 0.010 109.960 ● PG22A 23600 25960.000 1 110.000 110.000 110.000 110.000 0.000 110.000 ● PT24A 23700 26093.280 2 110.120 110.000 110.000 110.120 0.000 110.100 ● TI20A 9700 10668.900 3 110.120 109.900 109.900 110.120 0.000 109.990 ▼ TI24A 25000 27250.000 1 109.000 109.000 109.000 109.000 -1.000 109.000 Market Summary as at May 5, 2015 Equity Offi cial List Session State ................................................................... closed Number of trades ............................................................. 408 Volume Traded ................................................................. 5,903,667 Value of € denominated securities .................................... 7,623,956.28 Value of US$ denominated securities ................................ 0.00 Value of GBP£ denominated securities .............................. 0.00 Current Index ................................................................... 3814.979 Previous Index ................................................................. 3806.235 Change in Index (%) ......................................................... 0.23% 6pm Holdings plc .......................... 0.760 0.00% Malta International Airport plc ....... 3.490 0.87% Bank of Valletta plc ........................ 2.330 1.57% MaltaPost plc ................................. 1.421 0.00% FIMBank plc .................................. 0.450 -10.00% Medserv plc .................................. 2.030 0.00% GlobalCapital plc ........................... 0.800 0.00% Middlesea Insurance plc ................ 1.220 0.00% GO plc ........................................... 2.900 2.11% MIDI plc ........................................ 0.280 0.00% Grand Harbour Marina plc ............. 1.900 0.00% Plaza Centres plc ........................... 0.945 0.00% HSBC Bank Malta plc ..................... 1.930 3.15% RS2 Software plc............................ 3.120 0.00% International Hotel Investments plc 0.680 0.00% Simonds Farsons Cisk plc ............... 3.500 4.48% Island Hotels Group Holdings plc ... 1.020 0.00% Tigné Mall plc ................................ 0.800 0.00% Lombard Bank Malta plc ................ 1.900 0.00% Pefaco International plc ................. 2.190 0.00% Malita Investments plc ................... 0.910 0.00% Santumas Shareholdings plc ......... 2.000 0.00% Money Market Report for the week ending May 1, 2015 ECB Monetary Operations On Monday, April 27, the European Central Bank (ECB) announced its weekly main refinancing operation (MRO). The auction was conducted on Tuesday, April 28, and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €108.48 billion, €12.75 billion higher than the bid amount of the previous week. The amount was allotted in full at a fixed rate equivalent to the prevailing MRO rate of 0.05%, in accordance with current ECB policy. On Wednesday, April 29, the ECB conducted a three-month, longer-term refinancing operation to be settled as a fixed rate tender procedure with full allotment, with the rate fixed at the average rate of the MROs over the life of the operation. The auction attracted bids of €25.32 billion from euro area eligible counterparties, which amount was allotted in full in accordance with current ECB policy. Also on Wednesday, April 29, the ECB conducted a seven-day US dollar funding operation through collateralised lending in conjunction with the US Federal Reserve. This operation was carried out at a fixed rate of 0.63% and did not attract bids from euro area eligible counterparties. Domestic Treasury Bill Market In the domestic primary market for Treasury bills, the Treasury invited tenders for 92-day bills maturing on July 31, 2015. Bids of €38.00 million were submitted, with the Treasury accepting €14.00 million. Since €9.00 million worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills increased by €5.00 million, to stand at €206.19 million. The yield from the 91-day bill auction was 0.00%, unchanged from the bids with a similar tenor issued on April 24, 2015, representing a bid price of 100.00 per 100 nominal. During the week under review, there was no trading on the Malta Stock Exchange. On Tuesday the Treasury invited tenders for 181-day bills, maturing on November 5, 2015. The power of infographics I recently stumbled upon a blog by a certain Mia MacMeekin and entered the world of in- fographics. I must admit that I am intrigued by it all. I am impressed with how powerful and simple infographics are or can be. Don't get me wrong: I have seen infographics before but I never knew they were called that, nor connected the dots to appreciate how powerful and relevant they could be for business. The first infographic that caught my particular attention, and inspired this article, is 'Rethinking Innovation' by Mia MacMeekin and she capably came up with 27 different ways how to be innovative. What I like about infographics is their application to the business world. I consider a company, a place where people come together to achieve a mission and implement a strategy and they constantly achieve this feat by communicating to each other as well as with their customers. Communication and understanding each other is therefore paramount. Yet, I've often felt and vented my frustration that current tools of communication (the dreaded power point presentation, the annual report or even management accounts) are not ideal for this purpose. I, therefore, see a lot of potential in infographics. The idea is simple: complex ideas are broken down and explained by means of visual images intertwined with key words. Infographics are not a new concept (some might even refer you to 1626 when a certain Christopher Scheiner first published the 'Rosa Ursina sive Sol' and made good use of illustrations to show the sun's rotations) but it is a fact that infographics have struggled to become mainstream in the business world. Until recently, it was perhaps the lack of easy-to-use 'free' tools, which prevented the popular take-up by business but nowadays there are a multitude of sites offering infographic templates, some even of the open- platform variety, which render the whole process much easier. Personally, I am going to give it a go, since visual images empower the communicator and leave a bigger impact on the target audience. To be fair, suave marketers have been toying with infographics for a while now, and to great effect, but I do think that infographics have a much wider application. The business world should take note and embrace. Check out, or Google search, 'Your Life in Weeks' and you will know what I mean. In this infographic, Tim Urban graphically represents one week in your life by a dot and highlights some of the major milestones in your life with colours ranging from your early years, to your schooling years, career and finally retirement. In words of the creator: 'It kind of feels like our lives are made up of a countless number of weeks. But there they are – fully countable – staring you in the face.' The image is very powerful. Alternatively, go to 'Thirteen Reasons why your brain craves infographics' (http://bit. ly/1GTRqaM) since this example not only explains why I am harping on about it but it also neatly explains the subject matter. Here is a snippet: the use of visualised information since 2007 has increased 9,900% on the Internet. Why? Because we are visually wired i.e. almost 50% of your brain is involved in visual processing, 70% of all your sensory receptors are in your eyes and we get the sense of a visual scene in less than 1/10th of a second. I'll stop here otherwise I'll spoil the surprise. I see huge potential for local business and encourage the MT business readers to investigate further, explore and experiment. Who knows, we might even start seeing the MT making good use of infographics. When communicating to your work colleagues the purpose is for the audience to understand what you are communicating so they can then think about it with positive endeavour and together you can decide on the next best course of action. Infographics give you that power. We have all heard the phrase 'A picture is worth a thousand words'. Well just imagine how much you can say in a presentation of just four slides using infographics. Let's face it, in the world we live in we are all suffering from information overload and therefore the more visual your message is the more likely you are to have an impact and for people to remember what you said. To me, it's a no brainer: if you want to be more competitive, and by this I mean employees communicating more effectively amongst themselves and/or with customers: infographics is the way forward since people remember 80% of what they see / do, 10% of what they hear and 20% of what they read. Kevin-James Fenech is a management consultant at FENCI Consulting Kevin-James Fenech Internet. Why? Because we are 'A picture is