Tallinn Stock Exchange and Estonian Central Securities Depository financial results for 2007

16.05.2008 TLN

“Last year the Tallinn Stock Exchange was characterised by active trading and the entry of new companies being listed. Important keywords were the establishment of the alternative market “First North” and the launch of the investor education programme “Invest Mentor”. In order to increase the attractiveness of the market, several operational principles of Baltic stock exchanges were harmonised and the process will continue in 2008,” said Andrus Alber, the Chairman of the Management Board of the Tallinn Stock Exchange.

In 2007, the unconsolidated operating revenue of the Tallinn Stock Exchange amounted to MEEK 27.4 (in 2006 MEEK 18.3) and its net profit was MEEK 10.1 (2006: MEEK 5).

The operating revenue of the Estonian Central Securities Depository (Estonian CSD), a subsidiary of the Tallinn Stock Exchange, increased by 19% to MEEK 44.7 (2006: MEEK 37.4). The net profit of the Estonian CSD was MEEK 18.8 (2006: MEEK 7.8).

46 employees worked in the Tallinn Stock Exchange group (including the Estonian Central Securities Depository) as of 2007; three of them are currently on parental leave. In comparison with the previous period, the number of employees in the group has increased by eight persons. In 2007, revenue per employee equaled to MEEK 1.63 (2006: MEEK 1.45); profit per employee was EEK 673 000 (2006: EEK 337 000).

In 2007, on the main list of the Tallinn Stock Exchange, shares of a newly listed company’s – Ekspress Grupp, Arco Vara and Viisnurk – were quoted. Tallinn Pharmaceutical Plant was delisted. Last year, the list of members of the Tallinn Stock Exchange was increased by 7 new entrants – JSC FBC Jusu Tarpininkas, AS Norvik Banka, AS Baltic Trust Bank, Trasta Komercbanka, DnB NORD Bankas AB, Bankas Snoras AB and Svenska Handelsbanken.

In 2007, the transaction volume in Estonian securities nearly doubled – increasing from 117 511 settled transactions in 2006 to 228 979 transactions in 2007. The growth in trading within the Baltic States was also considerable, and in 2007 more than twice as many cross-border trades compared to 2006 were made between Estonia and Latvia (10 600 transactions); almost four times as many trades were made between Estonia and Lithuania than in 2006 (78 205 transactions).

As of the end of the year, at the Estonian Central Securities Depository 6 608 enterprises were registered. While the number of registered public limited companies remains stable (5 046 registered ones), the number of private limited companies being registered continues to increase (1 562 registered; annual growth of approximately 25 %). The value of the securities registered at the Estonian Central Securities Depository is more than EUR 9.3 billion.

In 2007, the number of persons having acceded to the mandatory funded pension (2nd pillar) reached 554 353 persons, while the total volume of the funds increased by BEEK 7.5 to BEEK 11. The volume of the supplementary funded pension (3rd pillar) increased during the year by MEEK 343, amounting to BEEK 1.1, the number of acceded persons increased to 42 000 investors by the end of 2007.