Stock exchange rides year-end rally

TALLINN - It was a positive, maybe even stellar, year for the NASDAQ OMX Tallinn Stock Exchange in 2009 as it registered a total of 84,757 securities transactions with a turnover of 266.6 million euros, reports news agency LETA. Though the turnover was the weakest it been for the past few years, the results at the exchange proved second best for the decade in terms of the number of transactions processed, said the bourse.
Decreased daily turnover tied to the high total number of transactions pushed down the average transaction amount to about 3,150 euros per trade.

The Estonian Central Depository numbers show the total number of Exchange investors was stable throughout the year. More than 22,000 securities accounts hold securities listed on NASDAQ OMX Tallinn; the number of accounts holding securities listed on NASDAQ OMX Riga and NASDAQ OMX Vilnius increased 21 percent over the year.
The number of investors holding shares in listed companies rose. More shareholders bought into Arco Vara (up 39 percent), Merko Ehitus (up 36 percent), Viisnurk (up 23 percent) and Baltika (up 20 percent).

Looking to the country of origin of investors on the exchange, Swedish investors increased their participation rate, from 26.5 percent to 47.8 percent, this due mainly to the takeover offer of TeliaSonera and the strong growth in the value of Eesti Telekom shares. The share of Estonian investor participation fell from 49.2 percent to 34.0 percent.
The price movement of the share index reflected much of what was experienced around the globe, increasing by 47.2 percent. The share prices of 12 Estonian listed companies increased over the year, with nine of these up by 50 percent or more. The market value of listed companies stood at 1.8 billion euros at year end.

Two companies left the exchange – Starman in March and Luterma (formerly Kalev) in September. In mid-September, shares of Jarvevana were transferred from the main list to the secondary list. In the first quarter of the year, two bonds were redeemed – Tallinna Sadam and BIGBANK. At the beginning of this year, Eesti Telekom is expected to leave the exchange. Currently, shares of 16 companies and the bonds of two firms are traded on the exchange.

In 2009, Latvia’s DnB NORD and Swedbank affiliates were added to the list of members on NASDAQ OMX Tallinn.