NASDAQ OMX Baltic Announces Companies with the Best Investor Relations in the Region

11.12.2009 TLN

Tallinn, December 11, 2009 – NASDAQ OMX Baltic, part of the NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ), tonight on a special Baltic Market Awards ceremony announced the companies from NASDAQ OMX Baltic market with the best investor relations (IR) in 2009, as well as the Member of the Year.

TEO LT was awarded for the Best Investor Relations in the Baltic Countries. The company won this award for the third time. The company scored 98 points out of 100. The other candidates for this award were Tallinna Vesi and SAF Tehnika. Alongside with being the the Best Investor Relations company in the Baltic countries, TEO LT was also awarded for the Best Investor Relations in NASDAQ OMX Vilnius.

Tallinna Vesi was awarded for the Best Annual Report. It also scored the highest among Estonian companies and received the award for the Best Investor Relations in NASDAQ OMX Tallinn.

SAF Tehnika was awarded for the Best Investor Relations among Small Cap Companies and for the Best Investor Relations in NASDAQ OMX Riga. The company has received both awards for the forth year running thanks for its continuous efforts and focus on investor relations.

The Most Visible Improvement over the year in Investor Relations in the Baltic Countries was made by City Service from Lithuania which increased its performance by 19%.

This year it was harder to decide on the company with the Best Investor Relations Online as four companies gained equal maximum score. The BMA evaluation committee decided to award all four companies – Grindeks, SAF Tehnika, TEO LT and VST.

In view that the market quality is driven not only by issuers but also by exchange members, The Member of the Year in the Baltic countries award was given to AB SEB bankas from Lithuania, acknowledging its trading activity, commitment to market development and strong customer focus.

“The Baltic Market Awards is not just about the progress made by the award winning companies. The average score for IR level for Baltic companies since last year has increased by almost 6%, thus making a remarkable 50% progress since 2006 when the Baltic Market Awards was introduced. We strongly believe that the way a company is doing its business and communicating with its shareholders matters. It is about ethics, transparency and governance. Investor Relations is an asset that plays a large role in companies’ sustainability and its ability to raise additional capital for growth from investors,” said Henrik Elfving, NASDAQ OMX Vice President / Baltic market.

The BMA Evaluation Committee agreed to publish a list of top 20 ranking Baltic companies:

1. TEO LT
2. SAF Tehnika
3. Tallinna Vesi
4. VST
5. Nordecon International
6. Eesti Telekom
7. Grindeks
8. Baltika
9. City Service AB
10. Olympic Entertainment Group
11. Norma
12. Invalda
13. Arco Vara
14. Limarko laivininkystės kompanija
15. Apranga
16. Sanitas
17. Šiaulių bankas
18. Latvijas Kuģniecība
19. Latvijas Gāze
20. Merko Ehitus

The Baltic Market Awards was introduced in 2006. The aim of the project is to highlight the best achievements in IR among listed companies and motivate companies to pay attention to investor relations and adapt the best practices, as well provide companies with individual evaluation and consultancy from exchange side. Each company is evaluated by more than 100 criteria, including the quality of annual and periodical reports, disclosures, web page and analysts’ opinions. This year 58 companies were evaluated.

The members of the Evaluation Committee represent academics, investors and representatives of the the Baltic Stock exchanges; it was chaired by Geoffrey Mazullo, Director of the Partners for Financial Stability (PFS) Program, East-West Management Institute. The company analysis was conducted by students from the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga, under the supervision of the evaluation committee and the NASDAQ OMX Baltic exchanges.

List of winners:

• The Best Investor Relations in the Baltic Countries – TEO LT
• The Best Investor Relations in NASDAQ OMX Tallinn – Tallinna Vesi
• The Best Investor Relations in NASDAQ OMX Riga – SAF Tehnika
• The Best Investor Relations in NASDAQ OMX Vilnius – TEO LT
• The Best Investor Relations among Small Cap Companies – SAF Tehnika
• The Best Annual Report – Tallinna Vesi
• The Best Investor Relations Online – Grindeks, SAF Tehnika, TEO LT, VST
• The Most Visible Improvement over the Year – City Service
• The Member of the Year in the Baltic countries – AB SEB bankas