Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/856150
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 2 AUGUST 2017 12 Regular market closed – 01/08/2017 Symbol Code Volume Traded Value Traded Trades High Price Low Price Open Price Close Price Change l BOV 8,000 17,200.00 3 2.150 2.150 2.150 2.150 0.000 t GO 5,500 18,867.30 3 3.540 3.402 3.405 3.540 -0.009 l HSB 8,594 17,617.70 3 2.050 2.050 2.050 2.050 0.000 t IHI 329 197.40 1 0.600 0.600 0.600 0.600 -0.019 l MIA 1,400 5,880.00 1 4.200 4.200 4.200 4.200 0.000 s MPC 1,100 566.50 1 0.515 0.515 0.515 0.515 0.005 t RS2 34,204 62,264.88 14 1.840 1.749 1.800 1.839 -0.006 t G17C 5,000 5,057.00 1 101.140 101.140 101.140 101.140 -0.020 t G18A 3,495 3,757.47 1 107.510 107.510 107.510 107.510 -0.060 s G21A 7,500 8,959.50 1 119.460 119.460 119.460 119.460 0.020 t G22B 20,000 23,868.00 1 119.340 119.340 119.340 119.340 -0.050 s G24A 100,000 120,000.00 1 120.000 120.000 120.000 120.000 2.580 t G29B 70,000 75,600.00 1 108.000 108.000 108.000 108.000 -0.180 s G31A 43,300 62,057.56 1 143.320 143.320 143.320 143.320 0.160 s G32A 20,000 27,528.00 1 137.640 137.640 137.640 137.640 0.010 s G33A 10,000 13,379.00 1 133.790 133.790 133.790 133.790 0.290 s G36A 50,000 52,658.50 2 105.320 105.310 105.310 105.320 0.430 s G39A 257,400 253,554.58 8 98.590 98.100 98.110 98.510 0.450 s G40A 7,000 7,934.50 1 113.350 113.350 113.350 113.350 0.270 s G41A 32,800 33,375.74 4 101.780 101.750 101.750 101.780 0.220 t BV30A 85,000 82,450.00 3 97.000 97.000 97.000 97.000 -1.000 s GC21A 10,000 9,939.50 2 99.400 99.390 99.390 99.400 1.390 l IG24A 4,500 4,818.15 1 107.070 107.070 107.070 107.070 0.000 t IH26B 15,000 15,187.50 1 101.250 101.250 101.250 101.250 -0.500 s MF24A 15,000 15,975.00 3 106.500 106.500 106.500 106.500 0.500 s MI22A 25,000 25,827.50 2 103.310 103.310 103.310 103.310 0.010 l PG20A 15,000 15,562.50 1 103.750 103.750 103.750 103.750 0.000 Market Summary as at 01/08/2017 Equity Official List Session State ................................................................... Market Closed Number of trades ............................................................. 163 Volume Traded ................................................................. 855,122 Value of € denominated securities .................................... 980,083.78 Value of US$ denominated securities ................................ 0.00 Value of GBP£ denominated securities .............................. 0.00 Current Index ................................................................... - Previous Index ................................................................. - Change in Index (%) ......................................................... - Bank of Valletta plc ........................ 2.150 0.00% Medserv plc .................................. 1.250 0.00% FIMBank plc .................................. 0.710 0.00% Mapfre Middlesea plc .................... 1.900 0.00% GlobalCapital plc ........................... 0.300 -11.76% MIDI plc ........................................ 0.305 -4.69% GO plc ........................................... 3.549 -1.14% Plaza Centres plc ........................... 1.149 0.00% Grand Harbour Marina plc ............. 0.820 0.00% RS2 Software plc............................ 1.845 0.00% HSBC Bank Malta plc ..................... 2.050 -0.58% Simonds Farsons Cisk plc ............... 7.760 0.00% International Hotel Investments plc 0.619 3.17% Tigné Mall plc ................................ 0.970 0.00% Lombard Bank Malta plc ................ 2.390 0.00% Pefaco International plc ................. 2.240 0.00% Malita Investments plc ................... 0.765 0.00% Santumas Shareholdings plc ......... 2.149 0.00% Malta International Airport plc ....... 4.200 0.00% Malta Properties Company plc ........ 0.510 0.00% MaltaPost plc ................................. 2.019 0.00% PG plc ........................................... 1.340 0.00% MSE Index Business Today HSBC Bank Malta reports resilient profitability in H1 2017 Reported profit before tax of €25.9m for the six months ended 30 June 2017. The reported performance was €15.4m or 37% lower when compared with the same period last year. HSBC Bank Malta p.l.c. reported a profit before tax of €25.9m for the six months ended 30 June 2017 compared with €41.3m for the same period in 2016. This rep- resents a decrease of €15.4m or 37% on the previous period. The reported results for the first six months of 2016 included the gain on disposal of €10.8m arising on the sale of our membership interest in Visa Europe. This was a significant event and therefore the income related to this transaction is excluded from the adjusted results to analyse the underlying business performance. The performance during the first six months of 2017 was adversely impacted by persistent low interest rates, risk management actions and increased compliance costs but was in line with the management's expectations. Profit attributable to shareholders amounted to €16.9m resulting in earnings per share of 4.7 cents compared with 7.5 cents in the first half of 2016. The Board proposes to maintain the current dividend pay-out ratio of 65% and recommends an interim gross dividend of 4.7 cents per share (3.0 cents per share net of tax). The interim dividend will be paid on 11 September 2017 to shareholders who are on the bank's register as at 10 August 2017. All three main business lines, Retail Banking and Wealth Management, Commercial Banking and Global Markets, continued to be profitable during the six month period under review. Net interest income decreased to €60.3m or 6% compared with €63.9m in the same period in 2016. The persisting low interest rate environment continued to impact the bank's performance – the yields on all interest earning assets continued to decline resulting in a lower interest income which was partly offset by lower funding costs. Operating expenses of €52.2m remained broadly in line with the prior period. The bank continued to see the results of the early voluntary retirement programme implemented in 2016 as staff costs further decreased by 5% despite the annual pay increase. At the same time, continuous investment in regulatory and financial crime compliance offset the positive impact of savings in employee costs. The bank continues to exercise a rigorous cost control and to implement streamlining initiatives. The total assets of the Group decreased to €7,068m as at 30 June 2017. This was attributable to the reduction in the loans and advances to customers and the decrease in interbank placements. Net loans and advances to customers stood at €3,222m, €98m or 3% lower than at 31 December 2016. The decline was in the corporate loan book driven primarily by early repayments by several clients who secured alternative funding through bond issuance. At the same time, the mortgage book continued to demonstrate healthy growth. Lending margins remained under pressure due to sustained competition and low interest rates. The bank's available-for-sale investment portfolio increased by 5% to €1,105m. It is composed of highly rated securities and is conservatively positioned with the lowest investment grade of A-. Customer accounts were €4,870m as at 30 June 2017, €131m or 2.6% lower than at 31 December 2016. The decrease was primarily attributable to the withdrawal of a limited number of large corporate deposits which were temporarily placed with the bank. Core funding in the form of retail deposits increased further by €75m during the first six months of 2017. Andrew Beane, Director and Chief Executive Officer of HSBC Malta