On the basis of trading in the shares and equity certificates of stock exchange listed companies over the last six months, Oslo Børs has carried out a routine 6-monthly review of the allocation of listed companies to liquidity categories. The new allocations will come into effect from Friday 18 December 2009.
The allocations to liquidity categories provide an indication of how frequently the various shares and equity certificates are traded, which is very useful information for investors when making their investment decisions. The rebalancing shows an increase in the number of shares in the OB Match category and a reduction in the allocation to the OB Standard category.
The rebalancing has caused changes in the OBX category, with the removal of Norske Skog from this category and the addition of Songa Offshore and Norwegian Property. There have been 24 companies in the OBX category since early this month following the removal of Tandberg from the OBX Index after 2 December.
The number of companies in the OB Match category has increased from 108 to 111. There was a trend at the time of the six-monthly review in June for the number of companies in this category to reduce. The reversal of this trend can be explained by a significant increase in the general level of activity in the stock market over the second half of the year. This also serves to explain a reduction from 64 to 53 in the number of companies in the OB Standard category. In addition, several companies previously in this category were deleted from listing in the second half of the year. The OB Equity Certificates category remains unchanged from the last review.
There have been no new listings in the period from 1 June 2009 to and including 30 November 2009. A total of 12 companies were delisted over this period. There are accordingly no companies in the OB New category at present.
As of 18 December 2008, a total of 210 shares and equity certificates are listed on Oslo Børs. This represents a net reduction of 7 shares/equity certificates since the previous review of the category allocations in June.
The number of shares/equity certificates in the various Oslo Børs liquidity categories is as follows (figures for the previous period in brackets):
OBX 25 (25)
OB Match 111 (108)
OB Standard 53 (64)
OB New 0 (0)
OB Equity Certificates 21 (21)
The OBX category is based on the 25 most liquid shares on Oslo Børs. Shares with a minimum of 10 trades per day on average qualify for inclusion in the OB Match category. The OB Match category also includes companies that have entered into liquidity provider arrangements for their shares where these arrangements are approved by Oslo Børs. As of 18 December, 33 companies have such arrangements, a reduction of 3 companies from the previous review in June. The reason for the reduction is that several companies with liquidity provider arrangements ceased to be listed during the period.
Shares with fewer than 10 trades per day on average are allocated to the OB Standard category. Savings banks with issues of listed equity certificates make up a separate category, while shares that have only a short history of listing (listed for less than two months) are included in the OB New category.
The new liquidity categories from 18 December 2009 can be viewed here:
http://www.oslobors.no/ob_eng/Oslo-Boers/Listing/Listing-structure-and-liquidity-categories