STOCKHOLM, Sweden, July 1, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- As a part of the integration of the Nordic and Baltic securities markets, all six OMX exchanges will as of today use the same Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS) for classifying listed securities. The listed securities in Helsinki, Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius have now been classified in accordance with the GICS standard, developed by Morgan Stanley Capital International Inc. (MSCI) and Standard & Poor's (S&P).
A common Nordic-Baltic industry classification improves notably the international comparability of the listed companies, and provides companies with a clearly defined and larger peer group. The GICS classification covers approximately 95 percent of the world's equity market capitalization. The Copenhagen Stock Exchange and the Stockholm Stock Exchange have used the GICS classification standard since 2001. The GICS classification is also in use at the Oslo and Iceland stock exchanges.
GICS facilitates industry analysis by classifying companies on four different levels: sectors, industry groups, industries and sub-industries. The classification is based on the business area that generates the majority of the company's revenues. The ten sectors in the GICS classification are: Energy, Materials, Industrials, Consumer Discretionary, Consumer Staples, Healthcare, Financials, Information Technology, Telecommunication Services and Utilities. The new classification will replace the current sector classification of the Helsinki Stock Exchange.
In connection with the introduction of GICS, new sector indices will be launched at the Helsinki Stock Exchange on July 1, 2005. More information about the industry classification and the indices can be found at www.omxgroup.com/helsinkistockexchange.
About OMX Exchanges
OMX is a leading partner for more efficient securities transactions. OMX consists of two divisions: OMX Technology and OMX Exchanges. Through the OMX Exchanges division, OMX owns and operates the equity and derivatives exchanges in Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki, Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius as well as the central securities depositories in Estonia and Latvia. Through OMX Exchanges, OMX offers access to approximately 80 percent of the Nordic and Baltic Securities market. For more information please visit www.omxgroup.com.
About GICS
In 1999, MSCI and Standard & Poor's jointly developed the GICS to establish a global standard for categorizing companies into sectors and industries, thereby enabling asset owners, asset managers and investment research specialists to make seamless company, sector and industry comparisons across countries, regions, and globally.
The GICS methodology has been widely accepted as an industry analysis framework for investment research, portfolio management and asset allocation. The GICS classification system consists of 10 sectors, 24 industry groups, 64 industries and 139 sub-industries. The GICS sectors are: Energy, Materials, Industrials, Consumer Discretionary, Consumer Staples, Health Care, Financials, Information Technology, Telecommunication Services and Utilities. GICS DirectSM, a joint product of MSCI and S&P, was introduced in 2001. GICS Direct provides industry classifications for more then 26,000 companies and 29,000 securities. MSCI and S&P estimate that GICS Direct covers approximately 95% of the world's equity market capitalization.
GICS was designed to classify a company according to its principal business activity. To make this determination, Standard & Poor's and MSCI use revenues as a key measure of a company's business activity. Earnings and market perception, however, are also recognized as important and relevant information for classification purposes and are taken into account during the review process. For a detailed description of the GICS, please refer to the Standard & Poor's web sites at www.gics.standardandpoors.com and the MSCI website at www.msci.com
This information was brought to you by Waymaker http://www.waymaker.net
The following files are available for download:
http://wpy.waymaker.net/client/waymaker1/WOLReleaseFile.aspx?id=112466&fn=wkr0001.pdf