Industry classification at the Baltic stock exchanges

11.04.2005 VLN

11.04.2005

The Baltic stock exchanges (Tallinn, Riga, Vilnius) will, as a part of integration of Nordic and Baltic securities markets, introduce the Global Industry Classification Standard, GICS, as of July 1, 2005. Common Nordic and Baltic industry classification increases the international comparability of listed companies and provides the companies with a clearly defined and larger peer group.

The Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS) is developed by Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) and Standard & Poor’s (S&P), who estimate that it covers approximately 95% of the world’s equity market capitalization. GICS facilitates industry analysis by classifying companies at four different levels – sectors, industry groups, industries and sub-industries. The classification is based upon the business area that generates the majority of the company’s revenues. The 10 sectors in the GICS classification are: Energy, Materials, Industrials, Consumer discretionary, Consumer staples, Health care, Financials, Information technology, Telecommunication Services and Utilities.

As of July 1, all eight Nordic and Baltic exchanges will use the same classification standard as also Helsinki Stock Exchange will adopt the GICS classification at the same time. The GICS classification is already in use at the Stockholm, Oslo, Copenhagen and Iceland stock exchanges. 

More information about the industry classification.
For more information, please contact:

Inese Purgaile, Corporate Communications Specialist
OMX Exchanges/ Riga Stock Exchange +371 7212431

Diana Sokolova, Marketing and Communications Manager
OMX Exchanges/ Vilnius Stock Exchange +370 5 272 13 71

Tex Vertmann, Communications Manager
OMX Exchanges/ Tallinn Stock Exchange +372 640 8862


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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 (as of April 30, 2005) and 139 sub-industries (as of April 30, 2005). 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 25,000 companies and 28,000 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