Nasdaq Announces Winners of Baltic Market Awards 2016

27.01.2017 RIG

Latvenergo goes to ring the Bell at Nasdaq MarketSite in New York

Tallinn/Riga/Vilnius, Nasdaq Baltic Market, January 26, 2017 – Nasdaq (Nasdaq: NDAQ) announces that the winners of the Baltic Market Awards 2016 were recognized tonight during the live video bridge ceremony co-hosted by Nasdaq Baltic stock exchanges in Tallinn, Riga, and Vilnius. For the first time also Baltic Bond issuers were recognized for excellence in investor relations.

Tallinna Vesi, the largest water utility company in Estonia, was announced the winner in the main category Best Investor Relations in Baltics 2016 for the fourth consecutive year.

Given the exceptional development of the Baltic Bond market, for the first time a list of companies subject to evaluation was expanded by including bond issuers. Latvenergo, the Latvian energy company became the first State Owned Enterprise (SOE) nominated for the award Best Investor Relations in Baltics among Bond Issuers 2016. To mark the occasion, Adena Friedman, CEO of Nasdaq, invited the winner Latvenergo to ring the Bell at Nasdaq MarketSite in New York.

For the first time two companies scored equally in the category Best Interactive Investor Relations 2016: Tallinna Vesi and the Latvian shipping company Latvijas kuģniecība.

Tallinna Vesi showed best result also in the category Best Reporting Company 2016. 

Klaipėdos nafta, the Lithuanian state-controlled oil loading company, received the award for Most Visible Improvement over 3 Years. 

Apranga, the Lithuanian clothing retailer, was named the best in the category Best Investor Relations According to Market Professionals 2016.

LHV Pank from Estonia was recognized as the most active and dedicated financial intermediary on the Baltic market winning the Member of the Year 2016 for the fifth time within the life of the Baltic Market Awards. 

“Baltic Market Awards has a strong history of bringing together Nasdaq-listed companies and members to celebrate outstanding achievements in transparency, sound corporate governance and investor relations which are key to building confidence in the capital markets,” said Arminta Saladžienė, Head of Nasdaq Baltic. “I would like to congratulate all the winners and nominees who have shown excellence in investor relations and serve as inspiring role models.”

During the past 11 years the quality of online investor relations has improved by 85.9%; the quality of investor relations according to market professionals has increased by 42.8%; and the overall average quality of investor relations has increased by 40.6%. Baltic average score in 2016 evaluation was 72.29 points out of 100.

In total 45 Share issuers and 9 Bond issuers were evaluated according to over 160 criteria in 2016. The Awards were handed out to winners in 7 categories –

Best Investor Relations in Baltics
1. Tallinna Vesi 
2. Klaipėdos nafta
3. Merko Ehitus 
4. TEO LT
5. Nordecon

Best Investor Relations in Baltics among Bond Issuers
1. Latvenergo
2. LHV Group 
3. ABLV Bank 

Most Visible Improvement over 3 Years
1. Klaipėdos nafta
2. Arco Vara
3. Latvijas kuģniecība

Best Interactive Investor Relations
1. Tallinna Vesi (shared)
1. Latvijas kuģniecība (shared)
3. Klaipėdos nafta

Best Investor Relations According to Market Professionals
1. Apranga 
2. Tallinna Vesi 
3. Grigeo Grigiškės 

Best Reporting Company
1. Tallinna Vesi
2. Klaipėdos nafta
3. Merko Ehitus

Member of the Year
1. LHV Pank (Estonia)
2. Šiaulių Bankas (Lithuania)
3. SEB Pank (Estonia)

Alongside the Baltic Market Awards, the winners of the Nasdaq Baltic Thesis Competition 2016 were honored. Giedrė Petrošiūtė with the Thesis “An Assessment of Factors Influencing Corporate Governance Disclosure among Baltic and Scandinavian Listed Companies” was announced the 1st place winner and was granted a EUR 1000 prize. Rando Tomingas with the Thesis “Performance Evaluation of Fundamental Indexation Strategies on the Baltic Stock Exchange” won the 2nd place and received a EUR 500 prize. Goda Gaušaitė and Arnas Vedeckis, authors of the Thesis “The Impact of Managerial Ownership on the Enterprise Performance in the Baltic States” were announced the winners of 3rd place and received a EUR 250 prize.

Thesis Competition:

1. Giedrė Petrošiūtė “An Assessment of Factors Influencing Corporate Governance Disclosure among Baltic and Scandinavian Listed Companies”

2. Rando Tomingas “Performance Evaluation of Fundamental Indexation Strategies on the Baltic Stock Exchange”

3. Goda Gaušaitė, Arnas Vedeckis “The Impact of Managerial Ownership on the Enterprise Performance in the Baltic States”

About the Baltic Market Awards
The Baltic stock exchanges have been carrying on the Baltic Market Awards project since 2006. The purpose of the Baltic Market Awards is to highlight the best investor relations in financial and non-financial reporting and improve the overall standard of investor relations among listed companies, as well as provide them with individual evaluation and consultancy from the Nasdaq Baltic side. The members of the Evaluation Committee represent academics, investors, finance analysts, media representatives and representatives of the Nasdaq Baltic. The Evaluation Committee is chaired by Professor Geoffrey Mazullo, corporate governance expert. For further information please visit: nasdaqbaltic.com.

About Nasdaq
Nasdaq (Nasdaq: NDAQ) is a leading provider of trading, clearing, exchange technology, listing, information and public company services across six continents. Through its diverse portfolio of solutions, Nasdaq enables customers to plan, optimize and execute their business vision with confidence, using proven technologies that provide transparency and insight for navigating today’s global capital markets. As the creator of the world’s first electronic stock market, its technology powers more than 85 marketplaces in 50 countries, and 1 in 10 of the world’s securities transactions. Nasdaq is home to approximately 3,800 listed companies with a market value of $10.1 trillion and nearly 18,000 corporate clients. To learn more, visit: business.nasdaq.com.

Nasdaq Copenhagen, Nasdaq Helsinki, Nasdaq Iceland, Nasdaq Riga, Nasdaq Stockholm, Nasdaq Tallinn, Nasdaq Vilnius, Nasdaq Clearing and Nasdaq Broker Services are respectively brand names for the regulated markets of Nasdaq Copenhagen A/S, Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd., Nasdaq Iceland hf., Nasdaq Riga, AS, Nasdaq Stockholm AB, Nasdaq Tallinn AS, AB Nasdaq Vilnius, Nasdaq Clearing AB, Nasdaq Broker Services AB. Nasdaq Nordic represents the common offering by Nasdaq Copenhagen, Nasdaq Helsinki, Nasdaq Iceland and Nasdaq Stockholm. Nasdaq Baltic Market represents the common offering by Nasdaq Tallinn, Nasdaq Riga and Nasdaq Vilnius. Read more: nasdaqbaltic.com.

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