Nine Thai Listed Firms Included In FTSE/ASEAN 40 Index

The number of Thai listed companies in the FTSE/ASEAN 40 Index has been increased to 9. They are PTT, PTTEP, BBL, KBANK, ADVANC, SCC, TPI, SCB, and KTB. Thai companies currently account for 15.35% of this index in terms of market capitalization and liquidity.

Senior Vice President of The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) Mr. Sethaput Suthiwart-narueput Ph.D. disclosed that FTSE Group has included three more Thai listed securities in this Index, boosting the total number of Thai securities to nine.

“Initially there were six Thai securities included in the Index, along with 34 securities from other ASEAN markets. In early March this year, FTSE Group adjusted the constituent list of securities in the FTSE/ASEAN 40, on the basis of market capitalization and liquidity,” Dr. Sethaput said.

Thai firms in FTSE/ASEAN 40 Index are Advanced Info Service PCL (ADVANC), Bangkok Bank PCL (BBL), Kasikornbank PCL (KBANK), PTT PCL (PTT), PTT Exploration & Production PCL (PTTEP), and Siam Cement PCL (SCC). The newly added companies are Krung Thai Bank PCL (KTB), Siam Commercial Bank PCL (SCB), and Thai Petrochemical Industry PCL (TPI).

To qualify for inclusion in the FTSE/ASEAN 40, securities must meet these criteria:

Market capitalization: have no less than USD100 million in market capitalization.
Liquidity: have a trading turnover of no less than 20% of tradable shares (free-float-adjusted) in the 12-month period prior to the index constituent list adjustment. The FTST/ASEA 40 list will be reviewed each March.

FTSE Group and five ASEAN exchanges (Bursa Malaysia, Jakarta Stock Exchange, The Philippine Stock Exchange, Singapore Exchange, and The Stock Exchange of Thailand) officially launched the FTSE/ASEAN and FTSE/ASEAN 40 Indices on September 21, 2005. The collaboration is to create the ‘ASEAN brand’ and highlight ASEAN as an attractive market for investment.

FTSE/ASEAN Index 40 is a tradable index that can be used to create index-linked products. The first possible product basing on the FTSE/ASEAN 40 Index could possibly be an ETF (Exchange Trade-Fund). FTSE/ASEAN 40 Index was up 21.5% from 5,252.20 on September 21, 2005 to 6,381.15 on April 21, 2006.

FTSE/ASEAN Index is an innovative product and was as one of the five nominees for the Most Innovative Index category of William F. Sharpe Indexing Achievement Awards hosted by Index.Universe.com later last year.

For more information on FTSE/ASEAN and FTSE/ASEAN 40 indices, please visit www.set.or.th (“FTSE/ASEAN Index” section) or www.ftse.com (“Indices” section)