As of 4.42 pm on 26 January 2005, CPH distributed its annual figures for 2004 by fax to a variety of news agencies such as Reuters, Bloomberg and Telekurs, as well as to the SWX. In its news release, the company announced a 4.2 percent increase in sales. Other media, including at least two national newspapers, were informed by e-mail of the annual results for 2004 at around 5.05 pm.
According to Art. 72 para. 1 of the Listing Rules (LR), an issuer must inform the market of any price-sensitive facts which have arisen in its sphere of activity and are not public knowledge. The publication of financial figures is, in principle, to be regarded as a potentially price-sensitive fact as specified in Art. 72 LR and should therefore be communicated in accordance with the regulatory modalities prescribed. Art. 72 para. 4 LR further states that the information must be disclosed by the issuer so as to ensure the equal treatment of all market participants to the greatest extent possible. The issuer must provide the SWX with its planned communication to the market no later than ninety minutes before the start of trading or the announcement as described in para. 1 (Art. 72 para. 5 LR).
CPH complied with the minimum requirements as stipulated in margin note 17 of Circular no. 2 on ad-hoc publicity, specifically that notification must be provided via an electronic information system in widespread use among professional market participants, as well as via a national newspaper. However, the failure to promulgate potentially price-sensitive facts to all of the parties concerned at exactly the same time during trading hours meant that the equal treatment of all market participants could not be guaranteed, as such a procedure leads to imbalances of information in the market. As the SWX received the CPH media release at the same time as the news agencies and not, as required, ninety minutes prior to publication, SWX was not in a position to cease trading where necessary in order to guarantee the equal treatment of all market participants.
In summary, the Executive Committee of the Admission Board decided that, by not promulgating potentially price-sensitive facts simultaneously to all of the parties concerned while trading was in progress, CPH failed to guarantee the equal treatment of all market participants and was therefore in breach of this important principle. The crucial factor in the issue of a reprimand, however, was the fact that CPH failed to submit the ad-hoc notification to the SWX ninety minutes prior to its general publication. According to the Executive Committee of the Admission Board, the incident overall constitutes a mild breach of Art. 72 LR. It was to be noted in the present case, however, that the company had already received a written reminder from the SWX that financial figures constitute potentially price-sensitive facts and that, should the company wish to publish such figures during trading hours, they must be communicated to all parties simultaneously, otherwise the principal of the equal treatment of all market participants might be infringed.
