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The FTSE Russia IOB Index was today expanded from ten to fifteen constituents. Following a quarterly review a total of six new companies, Gazpromneft, Severstal, VTB Bank, Uralkali, PIK Group and Tatneft, have joined the index. The FTSE Russia IOB index was developed to track the performance of the leading Russian Global Depositary Receipts traded on the London Stock Exchange’s International Order Book, and forms the basis for EDX London’s Russian derivatives service.
Raffaele Jerusalmi, Director of Derivatives and Fixed Income, at London Stock Exchange Group said:
“As a result of this index expansion, the FTSE Russia IOB index will be more broadly based, making it more attractive to our customers wishing to gain wider exposure to the Russian market. While still very strong in heavy industrial sectors such as oil and gas, industrial metals and electricity, 7 per cent of the index will now reflect the performance of companies in sectors benefiting from Russia’s growing consumer economy, such as banking, real estate and telecommunications.”
Imogen Dillon Hatcher, Managing Director FTSE Group EMEA said:
"FTSE is committed to offering investors a complete suite of index products to measure and analyse all facets of the investment landscape. The expansion of the FTSE Russia IOB Index reflects growing interest in the Russian Depository Receipt market on the IOB.”
The EDX Russian derivatives service was launched in December 2006 to offer an on-exchange solution for the growth in derivatives trading based on Russian GDRs. A notional value of over $25 billion has been traded on the service from launch until the end of February, representing an average month-on-month growth of 41 per cent.
The index expansion has been facilitated by continued strong growth in trading on the underlying securities on the IOB. Trading in IOB securities from Russia and the CIS during 2007 reached $375 billion, an increase of 81 per cent year on year.
