ZURICH, Switzerland, Oct. 30, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- STOXX Ltd., the leading European index provider, launched today the first dividend index for the Nordic region. The Dow Jones STOXX NORDIC Select Dividend 20 Index further complements the widely successful Dow Jones and Dow Jones STOXX Select Dividend index family.
The Dow Jones STOXX NORDIC Select Dividend 20 Index includes the 20 highest yielding stocks of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden and has an annualized performance of 13.9% since its inception on December 31, 1998. The Dow Jones STOXX NORDIC Select Dividend 20 Index has outperformed the Dow Jones STOXX NORDIC Total Market Index by 101.3% over the same time period.
"The Dow Jones STOXX NORDIC Select Dividend 20 Index follows the unique and widely successful concept of our select dividend index series. The components are weighted according to their dividend yield, not by their market capitalization," said Lars Hamich, managing director of STOXX Ltd., the joint venture which is responsible for Dow Jones Indexes' business development in Europe, Africa, Australia and Asia. "The new Dow Jones STOXX NORDIC Select Dividend 20 Index allows investors to further diversify their portfolios with returns from leading dividend-paying companies domiciled in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden."
To be eligible for inclusion in the Dow Jones STOXX NORDIC Select Dividend 20 Index, a component must have a positive, historical, five-year dividend-per-share growth rate and a dividend-to-earnings-per-share ratio of less than or equal to 80% in the current year, or be a previous component.
Each company's weight in the Dow Jones STOXX NORDIC Select Dividend 20 Index is based on its indicated annual dividend yield. The indicated annual dividend yields for all components are totaled, and each component's weight is equal to its dividend yield contribution. The weight of individual components in the Dow Jones STOXX NORDIC Select Dividend 20 Index is restricted to 15%. This restriction is implemented quarterly.
The Dow Jones STOXX NORDIC Select Dividend 20 Index is reviewed on an annual basis in March. Price and total return indexes are calculated in euro and U.S. dollar and Swedish krona.
Daily historical data are available back to Dec. 31, 1998, with a base value set at 100. Components and weightings are available at www.stoxx.com.
The Dow Jones STOXX NORDIC Select Dividend 20 Index further complements the Dow Jones and Dow Jones STOXX Select Dividend Indexes series consisting of the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index, the Dow Jones STOXX Select Dividend 30 Index, the Dow Jones EURO STOXX Select Dividend 30 Index, the Dow Jones Select Dividend Indexes for France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the U.K., the Dow Jones SWX Select Dividend 20 Index, the Dow Jones Asia/Pacific Select Dividend 30 Index, the Dow Jones Asia Select Dividend 30 Index and Dow Jones Japan Select Dividend 30 Index.
These new indexes are based on the concept of the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index, which was launched in November 2003 as the first dividend index to respond to the increased interest of U.S. investors in companies issuing dividends after lower U.S. tax rates on dividends were introduced.
Journalists may e-mail questions regarding this press release to: PR-Indexes@dowjones.com or contact one of the Dow Jones Indexes/STOXX press offices:
Frankfurt: +49-69-29-725-290 New York: +1-212-597-5720
The STOXX logo is available at http://www.primezone.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=2848