Listings on both the Helsinki stock exchange’s main list and the less-regulated First North list have been active in recent years. Share issues statistics showed an increase for March 2018, when Altia Plc and Harvia Plc listed on the Helsinki exchange’s main list. New issuance of listed shares in March totalled EUR 251 million, of which EUR 219 million was subscribed in connection with initial public offerings1.
Despite the listings in March, net issuance of corporate shares was negative (EUR –790 million) in January–March 2018, due to cancellations of EUR 1.0 billion of listed corporate shares in February 2018.
At the end of March 2018, the market value of listed shares issued by Finnish non-financial corporations2 amounted to EUR 220.4 billion. The market value of shares declined by EUR 7.1 billion from the end of February 2018. In February, the market value of the stock of shares issued by non-financial corporations was the highest since December 2007.
Securities issues statistics
Finnish residents issued EUR 11.6 billion worth of bonds in the first quarter of 2018. With bond redemptions amounting to EUR 4.5 billion, net issuance of bonds in January–March 2018 totalled EUR 7.1 billion. At end-March 2018, the stock of bonds issued by Finnish residents amounted to EUR 218.7 billion and the annual growth rate of the stock was 2.4%. Bonds issued by central government (EUR 101.3 billion) and monetary financial institutions (EUR 75.8 billion) account for over 80% of the total bond stock.
Net issuance of bonds by Finnish non-financial corporations3 totalled EUR –370 million in the first quarter of 2018. Corporate bond issuance in January–March 2018 amounted to EUR 1.2 billion and redemptions to EUR 1.6 billion. At end-March, the stock of bonds issued by Finnish non-financial corporations amounted to EUR 26.9 billion and the annual growth rate of the stock was 6%.
Securities holdings statistics
The stock of listed shares4 held by Finnish households declined in the first quarter of 2018 by EUR 844 million, to EUR 37.1 billion at end-March 2018. In January–March 2018, households’ net investments in listed shares totalled EUR 1.0 billion. In the same period, the value of households’ shareholdings declined by EUR 1.8 billion. Domestic non-financial corporations account for 88% of households’ investments in listed shares.
At end-March 2018, the stock of securities investments by employee pension institutions amounted to EUR 172.4 billion. The stock increased by EUR 408 billion in the first quarter of 2018. In January–March 2018, employee pension institutions made EUR 4.1 billion worth of new investments in securities. In the same period, the value of investments fell by EUR 3.6 billion. At end-March 2018, the majority (EUR 97.1 billion) of employee pension institutions’ investments were in investment funds, of which EUR 89.3 billion were in foreign funds and EUR 7.8 billion in domestic funds.
1 Statistics on securities issues cover only new shares subscribed for cash. Old shareholdings are excluded. Therefore, the market value of listed corporations is considerably higher, at end-March EUR 388 million.
2 Includes all Finnish non-financial corporations on all marketplaces.
3 Non-financial corporations (S.111) excl. monetary financial institutions and financial institutions.
4 Households also have investments in listed shares via investment funds and insurance corporations.
For further information, please contact
Markus Aaltonen, tel. +358 9 183 2395, email: markus.aaltonen(at)bof.fi
Related statistical data and graphs are also available on the Bank of Finland website: https://www.suomenpankki.fi/en/Statistics/securities-statistics/