Actelion to join top share index

Actelion has announced that its shares are to be listed on the Swiss Market Index.

It said the management committee of the SWX Swiss Exchange decided to add the firm, with shares in the company to trade for the first time as part of the index on September 22nd 2008.

At this time, the SMI basket adjustment will take place.

“As a blue-chip index, the SMI is Switzerland’s key equity index,” Actelion said. “It represents about 85 per cent of the free-float capitalisation of the Swiss equity market.”

It added that the index includes the 20 most liquid and largest bodies on the Swiss Performance Index.

The index is considered to be a mirror for the overall stock market in Switzerland and as such is used as the underlying index for a number of derivative financial instruments, including index funds, futures and options.

Its composition is examined and updated where necessary once a year.

In April 2008, Actelion recorded operating profit of 67.8 million Swiss francs (33.8 million pounds) for the first quarter of the financial year.

This compared to an operating loss of 151.5 million Swiss francs recorded in the same period last year.