Oslo Børs Newsletter No. 3/2010

2010 sees a record level of activity in the capital markets

14 December 2010

2010 has been an extremely active year in the Norwegian capital markets. Both the equities and fixed income markets at Oslo Børs have seen record levels of capital raising. By 10 December 2010, capital raised on the equities markets of Oslo Børs and Oslo Axess since the start of the year had reached NOK 57.7 billion in total, which is the highest annual figure ever. These figures include new issues for businesses spun off, such as Statoil Fuel & Retail and Gjensidige. The previous record year for capital raising on Oslo Børs was 2006, when NOK 56.9 billion was raised.

The fixed income market continues to set new records for both the number of issues admitted to listing and the volume of new issues in bonds and certificates. By November, the marketplaces of Oslo Børs and Oslo ABM (Alternative Bond Market) had admitted 348 new fixed income issues to listing this year. In the previous record year of 2009, a total of 298 new issues were listed. 2009 was also a record year for the volume of new issues in the fixed income market, with a total of NOK 203.3 billion of new funds raised on Oslo Børs and Oslo ABM. By November of this year, the volume of new issues totalled NOK 222.1 billion.

We wish all our readers a very happy Christmas!

Per Eikrem, SVP Corporate Communications

Oslo Børs launches the first oil service index in Europe

Oslo Børs is the world’s second-largest stock exchange for oil service companies, both in terms of the number of listed companies from this sector and the market capitalisation of its companies. The oil service sector has performed strongly over recent years, and participants in the stock market have been keen to see a separate index to cover the sector. In response, Oslo Børs launched a new oil service index in October - Oslo Børs OBX Oil Service Index (OBOSX). As far as we are aware, there is no similar market index for the oil service sector in Europe.

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New duties for Norwegian issuers: IFRS for annual accounts, and audit committees

With effect from 1 January 2011, listed Norwegian companies that are not required to prepare consolidated accounts must nonetheless prepare their company accounts in accordance with IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards). The requirement to use IFRS previously only applied to companies that were required to prepare consolidated accounts.

Changes to the composition of the market indices

Oslo Børs revises the composition of the Benchmark Index (OSEBX) and the OBX Index twice each year. The new composition of the OSEBX Index came into effect from 1 December, and this revision saw three companies removed from the index while six companies were added. There are now 61 companies included in the index following this revision. Further information in the press release on the new index composition.

The new composition of the OBX Index was announced on 9 December. The selection of shares for inclusion in the OBX Index is based on the six monthly liquidity allocations of all shares listed on Oslo Børs. The revised allocation to liquidity categories comes into effect on Friday 17 December.

Recognition for the best corporate governance reporting

The Norwegian Corporate Governance Board - NUES (Norsk Utvalg for Eierstyring og Selskapsledelse) – has in recent years awarded a prize to the company listed on Oslo Børs that the Board wishes to recognise for the quality of its report on corporate governance in the previous year’s annual report.

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New web pages to boost the profile of energy, shipping and seafood on Oslo Børs

Oslo Børs is committed to promoting the visibility of companies that are already listed on its marketplaces, and we are also committed to attracting new companies both from within Norway and internationally. To support these objectives, we have added dedicated web pages to the Oslo Børs website to cover the sectors of energy, shipping and seafood.

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More exchange traded products on Oslo Børs

ETFs and ETNs, also known as exchange traded products, are becoming ever more popular on Oslo Børs. Both the number of ETFs and ETNs listed and the volume of trading in these products have shown significant growth since the start of 2010. These products fall into the category of ETPs (Exchange Traded Products), which is now a new separate segment of Oslo Børs.

Read more about ETPs

Updated market model for trading in equities

Following a consultation with our trading members this autumn a new version 3.1 of the Oslo Børs Market Model has been launched with effect from 3 December 2010. The following changes have been implemented for trading in equities on Oslo Børs and Oslo Axess:

Les mer

New member for Oslo Connect

The authorised market place for tailor made derivatives, Oslo Connect, admitted ABG Sundal Collier as a new member in November.

More information on Oslo Connect

Crown Prince and Crown Princess open the market

The Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Norway visited Oslo Børs on 4 November. As part of the visit, Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit opened the day’s trading by ringing the stock exchange bell from the listing balcony.

The Crown Prince and Crown Princess visited the exchange to hear a presentation of the business of Oslo Børs VPS, with emphasis on the particular features of the Norwegian market as well as general international trends and the role of market surveillance and quality assurance for the Norwegian marketplaces. The visit concluded with a tour of the stock exchange building.

Celebration of 20 years of the Derivatives Market

Surrounded by grim faced oil portraits and chandeliers, cheerful derivatives old timers mixed with rookies on 14 October 2010 to celebrate the birth of Oslo Børs derivatives market twenty years ago. In 1990 this market was a new creature, and the road to today’s seasoned market has been an exciting one.

Speeches by CEO Bente A. Landsnes and SVP Jesper von Zweigbergk reminded us all of market rallies and crashes. Trading pits with white boards were replaced by computers and alliances came and went. In short, an exciting and rewarding time.

Bouvet becomes the first company to transfer from Oslo Axess to Oslo Børse

The IT company Bouvet has become the first company to transfer the listing of its shares from Oslo Axess to Oslo Børs since Oslo Børs established the Oslo Axess marketplace in 2007. Bouvet was admitted to listing on Oslo Børs on 30 November, with the traditional listing ceremony and ringing of the stock exchange bell.

“Our listing on Oslo Axess has helped to improve Bouvet’s visibility. The company has attracted attention from a number of investment analysts, and this in turn has helped to increase both investor interest and the liquidity of our shares. Over the time we have been listed, we have reported strong growth in revenue and earnings, as well as in customer numbers and the number of consultants we employ. These developments, together with an expanding shareholder base, mean that listing our shares on Oslo Børs is now a natural next step for Bouvet as a company”, commented Sverre Hurum, CEO of Bouvet ASA, in a press release at the time.

Good level of new listing activity in 2010

The Oslo Børs marketplaces have admitted 20 new companies to listing so far this year.

Of the 20 companies listed so far this year, 13 are Norwegian and 7 are international. Six of the companies are energy-related, four are in the seafood sector and two are shipping companies. The other companies represent a range of sectors including mining, IT, biotechnology, real estate and finance.

Gjensidige Forsikring ASA

On Friday 10 December, Gjensidige Forsikring ASA was admitted to listing on Oslo Børs. Gjensidige is Norway’s largest general insurance company, and also operates in Denmark, Sweden and the Baltic countries. In addition the group offers online retail banking, consumer finance, pensions and savings products, and health care services in Norway.

Listing of Gjensidige

Seawell Limited

Seawell Limited was admitted to listing on Oslo Børs Friday 26 November. Seawell is a global oilfield service company providing drilling and well services to the oil and natural gas exploration and production industry.

Listing of Seawell

Floatel International

On Wednesday 1 December, Floatel International was admitted to listing on Oslo Børs. Floatel owns and operates offshore accommodation units (floatels).

Listing of Floatel International

Derivatives class 8 November

In November a free derivatives trading beginners class was held at Oslo Børs. Petter Davidsen, normally a broker at the MPS desk, was host and teacher to a class of approximately 40 participants of all paths of life and ages who had met up to learn more. After a few words of history there was no time to waste and soon everyone was thinking hockey sticks and P/L.

Oslo Børs offer classes like this on a regular basis. Information on coming classes and can be found on the Oslo Børs web page.

Five locations, 1,350 investors and a sea of opportunities

Oslo Børs and VPS have worked with AksjeNorge, an independent foundation to promote share ownership, to arrange five evening events in the largest towns and cities of Norway. In all over 1,300 private investors attended the events in Kristiansand, Stavanger, Bergen, Trondheim and Oslo. Oslo Børs and VPS were delighted to meet investors and answer their questions, and also contributed to the content of the evenings with presentations on how Oslo Børs is collaborating with investment firms, professional advisers and other parties to attract fishery and seafood companies to Oslo Børs, both from Norway and internationally. The message for investors was that the exciting range of fishery and seafood companies that have chosen Oslo Børs for a stock exchange listing represents a sea of opportunities!

The presentation given at these events (in Norwegian) can be found on the AksjeNorge website

Seminar and training course for issuers at Oslo Børs

It is becoming something of a tradition for Oslo Børs to invite listed companies to a seminar towards the end of the year. This year’s seminar attracted 85 participants from 65 companies.

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CESR has issued new FAQ for prospectuses

‘The Committee of European Securities Regulators’ – CESR – has recently issued a new version of its ‘frequently asked questions’ regarding the prospectus rules. CESR is an independent committee with members drawn from the EU supervision authorities, and was established to co-ordinate supervision across the EU, which includes working to harmonise the prospectus rules. Link to the updated FAQ

Report on the ‘Flash crash’

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a joint report on 30 September 2010 regarding the events that affected the American stock market on 6 May this year – events which became known as the ‘flash crash’. The report concludes that the temporary collapse in the American stock market on that day was caused by a series of events that resulted in extremely low liquidity, which caused a sharp fall in both indices and individual share prices.

Click here to read the report: Findings regarding the market events of May 6, 2010

Monthly facts and figures

Oslo Børs publishes monthly reports of facts and figures from the equities, bond and derivatives markets. The information published is based on the detailed statistics published by Oslo Børs on its website every month.

‘Facts and figures’ provides a quick overview of developments and events in the market, including indices, turnover figures and broker statistics, as well as a table of ‘winners and losers’ for Oslo Børs and Oslo Axess.

The latest issue of Facts and figures