NASDAQ OMX Baltic Exchanges Announce Companies with the Best Investor Relations in the Baltic Region

26.01.2012 VLN

Quality of investor relations in the Baltics has improved by 40% since 2006

Tallinn, Riga, Vilnius, January 26, 2011 – NASDAQ OMX Baltic, part of the NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ), tonight at a special live broadcast ceremony announced the winners of the Baltic Market Awards 2011, recognizing the best practices in the Baltic securities market.
Lithuanian telecommunication company TEO LT was awarded for the Best Investor Relations (IR) in the Baltic Countries for the third consecutive year. The runners-up for this award were utilities company Tallinna Vesi from Estonia and pharmaceutical company Grindeks from Latvia.
The Baltic Market Awards project, alongside with evaluating investor relations, identifies the most active financial intermediary – a bank or a brokerage firm trading in the Baltic securities – and awards it as Member of the Year.  LHV pank from Estonia was recognized the Baltic Member of the Year taking into account its trading activity and active involvement in the market improvement and development projects.  

“I’m happy to see there has been strong progress with respect both in quality of IR and in our Baltic members’ efforts,” said NASDAQ OMX CEO Bob Greifeld in a video message from New York.  “NASDAQ OMX is committed to providing the best products and services in the industry that make easier for you to conduct business.  In 2011, 87 companies raised more than 10 billion dollars in capital on NASDAQ OMX exchanges in Europe and in the United States. Together with our global clients and partners, we are providing efficient markets and solutions to help public companies fuel necessary economic growth in both developed and emerging markets–and clearly this includes the Baltics.”
“Good investor relations help companies grow. With more investors turning towards international markets to explore cross-border opportunities it is crucial for the Baltic companies to maintain high standard investor relations, as transparent and accountable companies build credibility, trust and interest among the financial community. It is encouraging to see as many as 26 Baltic companies improve quality of their investor relations during 2011,” said Arminta Saladžienė, Head of Baltic Markets at NASDAQ OMX.

The Baltic Market Awards jury also announced best companies in seven more categories (listed on the appendix).

APPENDIX:
Winners by categories:
The best investor relations in NASDAQ OMX Vilnius
1st:     TEO LT
2nd:      Invalda
3rd:     Apranga

The best investor relations in NASDAQ OMX Riga
1st:    Grindeks
2nd:     SAF Tehnika
3rd:    Olainfarm

The best investor relations in NASDAQ OMX Tallinn
1st:     Tallinna Vesi
2nd:      Tallink Grupp
3rd:     Baltika

The best investor relations online
Five companies received a maximum of 25 points:
City Service (www.cityservice.lt),
Grindeks (www.grindeks.lv),
Tallinna Vesi (www.tallinnavesi.ee),
Tallink Grupp (www.tallink.com),
TEO LT (www.teo.lt)

The best investor relations –among small cap (up to 25 million EUR market cap)
1st:    SAF Tehnika
2nd:     Arco Vara
3rd:    Limarko laivininkystės kompanija

The best annual report
1st:    TEO LT
2nd:     Tallinna Vesi
3rd:    Grindeks

The most visible improvement over the year
1st:    Premia Foods (+15.84 points)
2nd:     Latvijas balzams (+12.94 points)
3rd:    Šiaulių bankas (+7.80 points)

The best investor relations in the Baltic Countries
1st:    TEO LT
2nd:     Tallinna Vesi
3rd:    Grindeks

Member of the Year
1st:    LHV pank (Estonia)
2nd:     SEB bankas (Lithuania)
3rd:    Bankas Finasta (Lithuania)

Top 20 ranking Baltic companies in 2011 according to their Baltic Market Awards IR score:
1.    TEO LT
2.    Tallinna Vesi
3.     Grindeks
4.    SAF Tehnika
5.    Tallink Grupp
6.    Invalda
7.    Baltika
8.    Premia Foods
9.    Nordecon
10.    Olainfarm
11.    Apranga
12.    Šiaulių bankas
13.    Harju Elekter
14.    Latvijas Gāze
15.    City Service
16.    Sanitas
17.    Arco Vara
18.    Merko Ehitus
19.    Olympic Entertainment Group
20.    Ekspress Grupp

About the Baltic Market Awards project:
The Baltic Market Awards was introduced in 2006. The purpose of the international Baltic Market Awards project 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 stock exchange side. Each company is evaluated according to more than 120 criteria, including quality of the annual and periodical reports, disclosures, web page and analysts’ opinions. This year 54 companies were evaluated.
Improvements in IR in the Baltics during past 6 years:
•    The quality of IR in the Baltic market has improved by 40%.
•    The quality of the financial reports of the Baltic listed companies has improved by 55% and that of investor relations online by 83%.
•    The quality of IR among small cap companies is lower on average than in large companies, however, it is continuously improving and the gap is narrowing each year. In 2011, small cap companies scored on average only 13% less than the rest of companies.

The members of the Evaluation Committee represent academics, investors, finance analysts, media representatives and representatives of the Baltic stock exchanges. The Evaluation Committee is chaired by Geoffrey Mazullo, corporate governance expert and principal of Emerging Markets ESG. 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 stock exchanges.

About NASDAQ OMX
The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. is the world’s largest exchange company. It delivers trading, exchange technology and public company services across six continents, with more than 3,500 listed companies. NASDAQ OMX offers multiple capital raising solutions to companies around the globe, including its U.S. listings market, NASDAQ OMX Nordic, NASDAQ OMX Baltic, NASDAQ OMX First North, and the U.S. 144A sector. The company offers trading across multiple asset classes including equities, derivatives, debt, commodities, structured products and exchange-traded funds. NASDAQ OMX technology supports the operations of over 70 exchanges, clearing organizations and central securities depositories in more than 50 countries. NASDAQ OMX Nordic and NASDAQ OMX Baltic are not legal entities but describe the common offering from NASDAQ OMX exchanges in Helsinki, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Iceland, Tallinn, Riga, and Vilnius. For more information about NASDAQ OMX, visit http://www.nasdaqomx.com. Please follow NASDAQ OMX on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/NASDAQ) and Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/nasdaqomx).
Media Contacts:

Āris Dreimanis, Communications Manager
NASDAQ OMX Riga +371 67 21 2431

Tex Vertmann, Communications Manager
NASDAQ OMX Tallinn +372 640 8862

Gintarė Blažytė, Communication Manager
NASDAQ OMX Vilnius +370 5 272 3458