MSE Trading Report: How Malta’s €2.9m Week Moved Festa Budgets and Nanna’s Nest-Eggs

# MSE Wraps Week with €2.9m Turnover as Maltese Families Check Their ‘Sant’Anna’ Nest-Eggs

**Valletta, Friday 19 September 2025 – 17:45** – The bronze bells of the Jesuit church had barely finished tolling when the last trade of the week flickered across the Malta Stock Exchange screen: 1,000 Bank of Valletta shares at €2.63, nudging the local equity barometer a modest 0.18 % higher. In cafés just metres away, retirees nursing a post-works espresso leaned over smartphones, checking whether this week’s move was enough to cover next month’s *kwareżimal* ingredients for their grandchildren.

The MSE Equity Total Return Index closed at 10,476.31, up 19 points on the week, on turnover of €2.9 million spread across 107 trades – hardly the stuff of Wall Street legend, but in a country where 68 % of households own at least one direct equity holding, the numbers are family gossip. “My nanna rang before *Xarabank* started to ask if she should finally sell her APS shares,” laughed Kimberley Spiteri, 24, a compliance officer sipping a *kinnie* on Strait Street. “I told her the dividend alone pays her yearly *festa* donation to St Paul’s shipwreck church – why touch it?”

## Blue-chips, Band Clubs and *Festa* Fireworks

Malta’s market may be a minnow, but its pulse beats in time with village life. This week’s biggest mover was Malta International Airport, up 2.1 % after August passenger figures breezed past 900,000 – the strongest since the 2019 record. The ripple was felt in Luqa itself: band-club treasurer Ġorġ *il-Bos* immediately pencilled an extra €500 into next July’s *festa* fireworks budget. “Every extra tourist is another couple of euros in our collection tins,” he grinned, polishing the brass of the *Società Filarmonika* trophy cabinet.

Meanwhile, HSBC Bank Malta eased 0.6 % despite announcing a €35 million share buy-back. Analysts say the dip reflects foreign funds taking profits before the ECB’s October rate decision, but in Sliema the talk is more parochial. “My son just got his first mortgage at 3.2 % – if HSBC returns cash to shareholders instead of lending, will rates go up?” worried Claire Camilleri, eyeing the *ħobż biż-żejt* she had just bought from a nearby *kiosk*.

## The *Gozo Ferry* Trade

Gozo Channel – technically a corporate bond, not an equity – saw 250 lots change hands after rumours (later denied) that the government is mulling a fixed-link tunnel timetable. The gossip alone pushed the 2029-dated bond up half a point, reminding traders that, in Malta, infrastructure politics can move prices faster than fundamentals. “We call it the *‘Gozo ferry’ trade*,” explained Mark Xerri, head of research at a local brokerage. “Every time a minister mentions tunnels, tunnelling stocks pop. When the story dies, they drift. It’s our version of meme stocks, *Malta style*.”

## Sustainability and *Soppu tal-Armla*

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues also coloured the week. RS2 Software, the payments technology firm with offices in Żejtun, rallied 1.4 % after signing a green-energy deal that will power its data-centre with solar panels spread across the old *De La Salle* college roof. In the adjacent *birgu* wine-bar, pensioner Rita *ta’ Soppu* raised a glass of *Gellewza*. “My late husband worked at De La Salle. Now the sun he cursed while pruning vines will cool the servers. *Mela*, progress,” she toasted, her eyes misty with *nostalgija*.

## Looking Ahead: Budget Skittles and *Imqaret*

Next week all eyes turn to the 2026 budget, due 30 September. Traders are wagering on whether Finance Minister Clyde Caruana will extend the tax-free dividend allowance beyond its current €10,000 – a measure that has funnelled retail money into local equities since 2022. “If he removes it, we’ll see profit-taking before *All Souls’*,” warned one floor trader, slipping an *imqaret* into his jacket pocket for the ride home. “If he ups it, the index could kiss 10,600 by *Christmas*.”

Away from the screens, the real index of Maltese wealth is measured in *ħobża* and *ħanut* conversations. Whether the market rises or falls, the *festa* fireworks will still glitter over Floriana next June, and nannas will still ring grandchildren for advice. But for one more week, at least, the *għażżien* summer lull has given way to gentle autumn optimism – and in a nation that measures time by saint-days and sea-temperature, that’s news enough to warrant another round of *pastizzi*.