Industry Classification At The Baltic Stock Exchanges

As part of the integration of the Nordic and Baltic securities markets, the Baltic stock exchanges (Tallinn, Riga, Vilnius) will introduce the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS) as of July 1, 2005. Common Nordic and Baltic industry classification increases the international comparability of listed companies and provides the companies with a clearly defined and larger peer group.

As of July 1, all eight Nordic and Baltic exchanges will use the same classification standard as also Helsinki Stock Exchange will adopt the GICS classification at the same time. The GICS classification is already in use at the exchanges in Stockholm, Oslo, Copenhagen and Iceland.

The Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS) is developed by Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) and Standard & Poor's (S&P), who estimate that it covers approximately 95 percent of the world’s equity market capitalization. GICS facilitates industry analysis by classifying companies at four different levels: sectors, industry groups, industries and sub-industries. The classification is based upon the business area that generates the majority of the company’s revenues. The 10 sectors in the GICS classification are: Energy, Materials, Industrials, Consumer Discretionary, Consumer Staples, Health Care, Financials, Information Technology, Telecommunication Services and Utilities.

For more information about the industry classification, please see www.omxgroup.com/vilnius www.omxgroup.com/vilnius (Info to listed companies/GICS company classification).