Securities registered with the Norwegian Central Securities Depository, Q4 2006

Share issues in the fourth quarter of 2006 amounted to NOK 45.7 billion, due to many and partly large issues. In the first three quarters of 2006, total share issues constituted NOK 64.4 billion.

Nearly 75 per cent of the share issues in the fourth quarter related to unquoted shares, particularly in real estate and offshore enterprises. Issues of bonds were also considerable in the last quarter of 2006 and amounted to NOK 91.9 billion. A few large issues explain the sharp increase compared with previous quarters in 2006. Issues in short-term securities amounted to NOK 51.7 billion, but substantial redemptions during the fourth quarter contributed to negative net issues of NOK 14.5 billion.Enterprises registered with the VPS raised NOK 110.1 billion through share issues in 2006 (measured in market value), compared with NOK 39.2 billion in 2005. The majority, and the largest, share issues throughout the year were by private non-financial enterprises and foreign enterprises. The redemption of shares in 2006 amounted to NOK 9.1 billion, resulting in net issues amounting to NOK 101.0 billion, up from NOK 33.7 billion in 2005. Net issues of bonds also increased considerably in 2006 to NOK 133.5 billion from NOK 57.6 billion in 2005. For short-term securities, redemptions exceeded issues, resulting in a net redemption of NOK 24.7 billion in 2006, up from NOK 0.8 billion in 2005.

Stock market recovery in fourth quarter

Measured in market value, the stocks of shares, registered with the VPS increased by 25.2 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2006 and amounted to NOK 2204.6 billion at the end of the year. The main reason for the strong growth in the total value of stocks was higher share prices on the Oslo Stock Exchange (OSE). The OSE All-share Index rose by 17.8 per cent in the last quarter of 2006. Foreigners and central government were the two largest owner sectors of shares registered with the VPS with 37.1 per cent and 26.6 per cent respectively.

In 2006, the market value of the stock of shares increased by 44.1 per cent. The OSE All-share Index increased by 33.3 per cent. At the end of the year the stock was divided into NOK 1903.9 billion in quoted shares and NOK 300.7 billion in unquoted shares. The increased value of the stock of unquoted shares can primarily be explained by adjustments in the statistics system undertaken in the fourth quarter of 2006. See box below for further information.The market value of the stock of bonds and short-term securities registered with the VPS followed the same path in the fourth quarter as in the rest of the year. The stock of bonds increased by 9.9 per cent to NOK 753.5 billion, while the stock of short-term securities was reduced by 13.9 per cent to NOK 99.7 billion throughout the quarter. Some of the growth in the stock of bonds (approx. 3.5 per cent) was caused by changes in the statistics system, which now includes bonds issued in foreign currency.The stock of bonds increased by 21.3 per cent, while the stock of short-term securities decreased by 21.0 per cent during 2006.