NASDAQ OMX announces the Winners of the Baltic Market Awards 2012

24.01.2013 RIG

Latvijas Kuģniecība goes to NASDAQ MarketSite in New York

Tallinn/Riga/Vilnius, Baltic Market, January 24, 2013 – NASDAQ OMX Group Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) reports that at the annual gala ceremony held tonight the winners of the Baltic Market Awards 2012 were honored. TEO LT, Latvijas Kuģniecība and LHV Pank collected the Baltic prizes in five different categories.

The Lithuanian telecommunications company TEO LT was recognized for the Best Investor Relations (IR) in the Baltic Countries for the fourth consecutive year. The runners-up were an Estonian water utility Tallinna Vesi and a Lithuanian holding company Invalda. The Estonian construction company Nordecon and the Latvian radio manufacturer SAF Tehnika were recognized among Top five. TEO LT showed the best results also in two other categories: The Best Investor Relations Online and The Best Annual Report.

Latvian shipping company Latvijas Kugnieciba improved its IR practices by nearly 34% over 2012 in comparison with 2011, securing an award for The Most Visible Improvement of the Year, and goes to ring the bell at the NASDAQ OMX MarketSite in New York.

LHV Pank from Estonia was recognized as the most active and dedicated financial intermediary on the Baltic Market winning the Member of the Year 2012 award for the second year in a row.

“In the times of uncertainty and depressed market activity, importance of investor confidence can hardly be overestimated. Transparency, open engagement with the investor community and sound corporate governance are essential for nurturing investor trust and support, and securing access to capital. NASDAQ OMX remains strongly committed in supporting the Baltic companies with advice and practical tools in building top class investor relations, and the Baltic Market Awards is a testimony to this commitment,” says Arminta Saladžienė, Head of NASDAQ OMX Baltic Market.

“Baltic exchanges operate the Baltic Market as a single marketplace for market participants and investors with increasing exposure towards Nordic and other European investors. This opens new opportunities for the Baltic listed companies to broaden their investor base, increase liquidity and visibility. Cross-border financial communication and investor relations effectively help expand the outreach beyond the home country’s borders,” highlights Daiga Auziņa-Melalksne, Head of Exchange Services, of NASDAQ OMX Baltic Market.

14 Estonian, 12 Latvian and 25 Lithuanian companies (a total of 51) were evaluated according to more than 120 criteria, including the quality of the annual and periodical reports, ad hoc disclosures, web page and analysts’ opinions, etc. The period under review covered July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2012.

The Baltic average score in 2012 evaluation was 76.57. The average result of the evaluated Estonian companies was 81.73, Latvian 72.42 and Lithuanian 75.67 points out of 100. TEO LT received the highest number of points in the overall evaluation – 95.68 out of 100. The lowest score was 48.54 out of 100.

The Best Investor Relations in the Baltic Market

1. TEO LT
2. Tallinna Vesi
3. Invalda
4. Nordecon
5. SAF Tehnika

The Most Visible Improvement in Investor Relations in 2012

1. Latvijas Kugnieciba
2. Ventspils nafta
3. Ūkio bankas

The Best Annual Report

1. TEO LT
2. Tallinna Vesi
3. LESTO

The Best Investor Relations Online

1. TEO LT
2. Tallinna Vesi
3. Tallink Group

Member of the Year

1. LHV Pank
2./3. Bankas Finasta
2./3. SEB Pank

Top 20 ranking Baltic companies in 2012 according to their Baltic Market Awards IR score:

1. TEO LT
2. Tallinna Vesi
3. Invalda
4. Nordecon
5. SAF Tehnika
6. Olympic Entertainment Group
7. Grindeks
8. Premia Foods
9. Šiaulių bankas
10. LESTO
11. Tallink Grupp
12. Apranga
13. Baltika
14. Olainfarm
15. Latvijas Gāze
16. Latvijas Kuģniecība
17. Harju Elekter
18. Ekspress Grupp
19. Ūkio bankas
20. City Service

About the Baltic Market Awards

The Baltic Market Awards project was introduced in 2006. The purpose of the Baltic Market Awards is to promote the best investor relations and improve the overall standard of transparency among listed companies, as well as provide them with an individual evaluation and advice for improvement.

About NASDAQ OMX

The inventor and transformer of the electronic exchange, The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc., fuels economies with revolutionary technologies for the entire lifecycle of a trade – from risk management to trade to surveillance to clearing. In the US and Europe, we own and operate 24 markets, 3 clearinghouses and 6 central securities depositories supporting equities, options, fixed income, derivatives, commodities, futures and structured products. Able to traffic more than 1 million messages per second at sub-80 microsecond speeds with 99.999% uptime, our technology drives more than 70 exchanges in 50 developed and emerging countries into the future, powering 1 in 10 of the world’s securities transactions. Our award-winning data products and worldwide indexes are the benchmarks in the financial industry. Home to 3,400 listed companies worth $5.1 trillion in market cap whose innovations shape our world, we give the ideas of tomorrow access to capital today. Welcome to where the world takes a big leap forward, daily. Welcome to the NASDAQ OMX Century. To learn more, visit www.nasdaqomx.com. Follow us on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/NASDAQ) and Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/nasdaqomx). (Symbol: NDAQ and member of S&P 500)

For more information:

Ott Raidla, Communications Manager, NASDAQ OMX Baltic Market
Phone: +372 64 08862, Mobile: +372 55524824, ott.raidla@nasdaqomx.com

Āris Dreimanis, Communications Manager, NASDAQ OMX Baltic Market
Phone: +371 67 212 431, Mobile: +371 261242824, aris.dreimanis@nasdaqomx.com

Audronė Ranonytė, Head of Marketing and Communications, NASDAQ OMX Baltic Market
Phone: +370 5272 3458, Mobile: +370 682 37411, audrone.ranonyte@nasdaqomx.com