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From http://www.rte.ie/business/2007/0618/ISEQ.html
This morning a new weighting system for shares on the Dublin stock market will see heavyweights such AIB, Bank of Ireland and CRH increase their weighting on the exchange.
The new 'free float' assigns weightings to listed companies on the basis of how many of their issued shares are actually available for sale.
Companies such as Smurfit Kappa and Aer Lingus may see institutional investors offload some of their shares to reflect the new weightings, which will exclude shares held by interested parties and long-term shareholdings that are unavailable in the market.
AIB and CRH alone will now account for a third of the market as, unlike companies such as Aer Lingus, they do not have big chunks owned by strategic shareholders and are therefore more liquid.
The new method comes into force today and will bring the ISEQ in line with best international industry practice, the exchange said.
Brian Healy of the ISEQ said two types of shareholding will now be excluded when calculating the ISEQ indices.
'Shares held by interested parties and long-term shareholdings that make up a significant portion of the issued share capital which are unavailable in the market will be excluded', he said.
'Apart from bringing us in line with best international practice, free float indices will ensure that investors are not put at a disadvantage when trying to match the weighting of a stock where a significant portion of a company's shares are not freely available for trading in the market,' said Mr Healy.
This morning a new weighting system for shares on the Dublin stock market will see heavyweights such AIB, Bank of Ireland and CRH increase their weighting on the exchange.
The new 'free float' assigns weightings to listed companies on the basis of how many of their issued shares are actually available for sale.
Companies such as Smurfit Kappa and Aer Lingus may see institutional investors offload some of their shares to reflect the new weightings, which will exclude shares held by interested parties and long-term shareholdings that are unavailable in the market.
AIB and CRH alone will now account for a third of the market as, unlike companies such as Aer Lingus, they do not have big chunks owned by strategic shareholders and are therefore more liquid.
The new method comes into force today and will bring the ISEQ in line with best international industry practice, the exchange said.
Brian Healy of the ISEQ said two types of shareholding will now be excluded when calculating the ISEQ indices.
'Shares held by interested parties and long-term shareholdings that make up a significant portion of the issued share capital which are unavailable in the market will be excluded', he said.
'Apart from bringing us in line with best international practice, free float indices will ensure that investors are not put at a disadvantage when trying to match the weighting of a stock where a significant portion of a company's shares are not freely available for trading in the market,' said Mr Healy.