Frequently Asked Questions s25

Frequently Asked Questions

Some Notes on this Section

The following section is organized alphabetically by topic. To see the full list of topics

and questions, a Quick Reference List follows.

In the following section, reference may be made to data, collected and distributed by

Worldscope, but not available on the particular software platform you are using to

access the database, or available in a format different to that described below. For

example, many CD-Rom applications of Worldscope no longer contain sufficient

storage space to house the entire company universe contained in Worldscope Global.

Any queries should be referred to your data software vendor, or to the Worldscope

client support desk(s) whose details have been supplied in the introductory section

entitled, ‘Client Support Services’.

Worldscope data items are identified below by a five-digit field number and a field

name as contained in this book. These may not, in all cases, match the field names or

numbers used by your data vendor.

In answering some of the questions in this section, Worldscope footnotes are

mentioned. Footnotes are linked by our analysts to specific data fields, and may

describe corporate actions (e.g., acquisitions, capital actions) and changes year to

year (e.g., name changes, year end changes, comparability of accounts) or provide

explanatory notes to data items (e.g., the exclusion of a long-term portion from a

current asset item).

Quick Reference List

Acquisitions

Is information on acquisitions available on Worldscope? (Question 1)

ADRs: American Depository Receipts (See also ADR Frequently Asked Questions)

How can I tell if a company trades ADRs? (2)

Does Worldscope Coverage include ADRs? (39)

Brazil: Share Data

How does Worldscope present share data for Brazilian companies? (4)

Consolidation

How do I know if the company accounts are consolidated or unconsolidated in a

particular year? (5)

Is parent company data available on Worldscope? (6)

Corporate Actions

Does Worldscope adjust data for corporate actions such as stock splits, stock

dividends, etc.? (7)

Frequently Asked Questions

Issue 6

Coverage

What companies are included on Worldscope and what are the selection criteria? (8)

Does Worldscope have full Western European Coverage? (8(a))

Does Worldscope have full US coverage? (8(b))

What is a Limited Data Set Company? (38)

What data is available for IPOs, e.g. newly listed companies? (37)

Currency

What currency is used to update Worldscope data? (9)

If a country has a currency revaluation, what does Worldscope do? (10)

Earnings per Share

Can I determine how earnings per share is calculated? (11)

Extraordinary Items

Can I see the impact of extraordinary items on earnings per share? (12)

EURO

How has Worldscope handled the EURO? (41)

Fast Update

What is a Fast Update and what benefit does it have for Timeliness? (35)

How can I identify Full and Fast Updates On Worldscope? (36)

Fiscal versus Calendar

Is per share data presented on a fiscal or calendar basis? (40)

Fiscal Year End

How does Worldscope treat different fiscal year ends? (13)

How are fiscal year end changes treated on Worldscope? (14)

Formats

In what formats is Worldscope available? (15)

History

How much history is available for companies on Worldscope? (16)

Inactive Companies/Securities

Does Worldscope provide information on inactive or dead companies and securities?

(17)

How can I determine if a company is inactive? (18)

How can I determine if a security is inactive? (19)

Industry Changes

How can I determine whether a company has changed industry? (20)

Frequently Asked Questions

Issue 6

Industry Classification

What industry classifications are available within the Worldscope database? (21)

Interim/Time Series data

Is interim financial statement data available on Worldscope? (34)

Limited Data Set

What is a Limited Data Set Company? (38)

Multiple Share Classes

How can I determine if a company currently has more than one type of share? (25)

What does Worldscope do if a company has more than one type of share? (22)

What is the difference in the data shown at the company level and data shown at the

security level? (23)

If a company has more than one type of share, how does Worldscope select the

share for the main company record? (24)

Name Changes

How does Worldscope handle company name changes? (26)

Non-traded Companies and Securities

How can I determine which companies or securities are not traded? (27)

Preliminary Data (see also Fast Update)

How do I know if information on Worldscope is preliminary? (28)

Pro forma Data

Does Worldscope carry pro forma data? (29)

Restated Data

Does Worldscope carry restated data? (30)

Selection Criteria

What companies are included on Worldscope and what are the selection criteria? (8)

Sources

What are the sources of Worldscope data? (31)

Timeliness

How soon after the fiscal year end/fiscal period end of a company can I expect to see

the annual data on Worldscope? (32)

What is a Fast Update and what benefit does it have for Timeliness? (35)

What data is available for IPOs, e.g. newly listed companies? (37)

Time series (See Interim Time Series)

Vendors

In what formats is Worldscope available? (15)

Frequently Asked Questions

Issue 6

Worldscope Identifiers

Is a unique identifier available for each record on the Worldscope database? (33)

Frequently Asked Questions

Issue 6

1. IS INFORMATION ON ACQUISITIONS AVAILABLE ON WORLDSCOPE?

Yes. Footnote K to Field 01001, Net Sales or Revenues details the companies in

which a holding of more than 50% was directly acquired during the financial year.

This footnote is always in the format "Acq'd n% of [company] in [year]".

2. HOW CAN I TELL IF A COMPANY TRADES ADRs?

An "X" in Field 11496, Indicator – Trades ADR indicates that the company trades

ADRs (American Depository Receipts).

3. DOES WORLDSCOPE SUPPLY SECTOR-LEVEL OR COUNTRY AVERAGES?

No, sector-level and/or country data is not currently supported. .

4. HOW DOES WORLDSCOPE PRESENT SHARE DATA FOR COUNTRIES WHERE STOCKS TRADE

PER THOUSAND SHARES?

For all Brazilian and Turkish companies on Worldscope all per share data (EPS,

market prices, etc.) are shown per 1,000 shares. The actual number of shares,

however, is not adjusted to reflect per 1,000 shares.

5. HOW DO I KNOW IF THE COMPANY ACCOUNTS ARE CONSOLIDATED OR UNCONSOLIDATED

IN A PARTICULAR YEAR?

Worldscope utilizes consolidated account data when it is disclosed. In other cases,

where there are no subsidiaries or no requirement to consolidate, only parent

company accounts are available. Information on whether the company accounts are

consolidated or unconsolidated in a particular year is given in the Accounting Practice

Field 07531 Accounting Method for Long Term Investment > 50%. This field contains

standard texts, such as: "All subsidiaries are consolidated", "No consolidation, cost

basis" and "Consolidation for significant subsidiaries, others are on equity basis".

If a company changes its consolidation practice in a particular year, a standard

footnote is attached to Field 01001 Net Sales or Revenues to describe the change in

reporting that has occurred (e.g. Footnote BB reads "Change from unconsolidated to

consolidated reports").

6. IS UNCONSOLIDATED/PARENT COMPANY DATA AVAILABLE ON WORLDSCOPE?

The following key parent company fields are available on Worldscope where annual

data is available on a consolidated basis but interim data is only reported on an

unconsolidated/parent basis, or preliminary data is only available on an

unconsolidated basis. Additional Parent company data fields are available for Japan,

Korea, and Taiwan.

Field 18169 Unconsolidated/Parent Company Depreciation

Field 18170 Unconsolidated/Parent Company Sales

Field 18171 Unconsolidated/Parent Company Pre-tax Earnings

Field 18172 Unconsolidated/Parent Company Net Profit

Field 18173 Unconsolidated/Parent Company Earnings per Share

Frequently Asked Questions

Issue 6

7. DOES WORLDSCOPE ADJUST DATA FOR CORPORATE ACTIONS SUCH AS STOCK SPLITS,

STOCK DIVIDENDS, ETC.?

Yes. Worldscope adjusts all stock data for capital actions. Thus, share-related fields

such as Common Shares Outstanding, Earnings Per Share, Book Value Per Share,

Dividends Per Share, market prices and so on, all appear after adjustment for stock

splits, stock dividends and rights issues. The adjustment factor is cumulative and is

used to adjust the previous years to make them comparable with the most current

year of reporting.

For example, a stock split of 2:1 in 2006 and a stock dividend of 50% in 2003 would

result in an adjustment factor of 0.5 being applied to all stock data in 2005 back

through 2003, and a cumulative adjustment factor of 0.33333 (that is, 0.66666*0.5)

being applied to all stock data prior to 2003. The number of shares is divided by the

factor, while per share data is multiplied by it.

Field 05576, Stock Split/Dividend Ratio contains the adjustment factors on the annual

original time series. (calendar for the US and fiscal for non US). Field 05575 Stock

Split/Dividend Ratio – Fiscal contains the adjustment factors for fiscal per share data.

It is available on all time series supported by Worldscope. Footnote A to Field 05101,

Dividends per Share contains a short description of the capital action(s).

These adjustments are also made at a security level.

8. WHAT COMPANIES ARE INCLUDED ON WORLDSCOPE AND WHAT ARE THE SELECTION

CRITERIA?

The Worldscope database targets coverage of publicly quoted companies. A few

large private companies are also included for some industries. The Worldscope

database also contains history for extinct or inactive companies that were listed but

have since then merged, liquidated or become privately held. Over 70 countries are

represented, and include all countries in targeted global indices (FTSE All World,

Dow Jones Global, MSCI World, MSCI EMF, S&P Global, S&P Citigroup

Coverage criteria is as follows:

1.1. Full Market coverage of all listed companies trading equity securities for developed

markets and a selection of emerging markets (excludes mutual and closed end

investment funds).

At December 2006:

• Developed markets

Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada (excludes Canadian Venture listings), Denmark,

Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg,

Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United

Kingdom, United States

• Advanced emerging

Brazil, Mexico, Korea (excls KOSDAQ), South Africa

• Emerging

Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, China , Taiwan

Frequently Asked Questions

Issue 6

1.2. Coverage of listed companies for the other countries (developed, emerging and

advanced emerging)

The targeted coverage comprises all markets included in global indices. The following

countries are currently targeted: Argentina, Bermuda, Canadian Venture Market,

Cayman Islands, Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Egypt, Hungary, Iceland, India, Israel,

Jordan, Korean KOSDAQ market, Morocco, New Zealand, Pakistan, Peru, Poland,

Russia, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Venezuela Virgin Islands,

and Zimbabwe.

Companies need to meet one or more of the following criteria to be included in our

coverage:

• Broker estimates equal to or greater than 5

• Market capitalization equal to or greater than 100 million U.S. dollars

• Company belongs to the FTSE ALL World, Dow Jones Global, MSCI World, MSCI

EMF, S&P Global, S&P/Citigroup

• Company has an ADR that is listed on the NYSE, ASE or NASDAQ or a sponsored

ADR that trades over the counter (we need the non-US identifier and ADR identifier).

• Companies included in EASDAQ or EURO.NM

• Non US company which has a listing on the NYSE, ASE or NASDAQ

1.3. Non traded companies

A small number of non-traded companies are included in current coverage. These

generally related to major industries (Banks, Utilities) not privatized.

1.4. ADRs

All ADRs listed on the NYSE, ASE or NASDAQ and sponsored ADRs which trade over

the counter.

1.5 Content coverage.

A fully detailed analysis is required for all companies within the following countries: United

Kingdom, and the U.S.

For all other countries fully detailed analysis is required if any of the following criteria is

fulfilled:

• Company is a constituent of the, FTSE ALL World, Dow Jones Global, MSCI World,

MSCI EMF, S&P Global, S&P/Citigroup or a selected local index

• Company has 5 or more broker estimates

• Company has a market capitalization of greater than 100 million dollar (exception

Japan, China & Taiwan)

• Company is included in the legacy Extel population

Companies not meeting the above criteria will be under a ‘limited’ key data template.

Frequently Asked Questions

Issue 6

8(a). Does Worldscope have full Western European coverage?

Yes. Worldscope has targeted full Western European Coverage since 1999. For this

purpose, Western Europe is defined as the 15 countries in the European Union prior

to the expansion in membership on 1 May 2004, together with Norway and

Switzerland. There is also coverage of many other European countries and

companies.

8(b). Does Worldscope have full US coverage?

Yes, Worldscope targets complete coverage of US companies filing with the

Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), with the exception of closed end investment

companies.

9. WHAT CURRENCY IS USED TO UPDATE WORLDSCOPE DATA?

Worldscope data is without exception expressed in the local currency of the country

of domicile, as shown in Field 06026, Nation or Field 06027, Nation Code. Where the

financial statements are reported in another currency, Worldscope converts them to

local currency using the exchange rate(s) given in the statements, or where this is not

available, using the relevant Worldscope exchange rate(s). WS field 18215 –

Exchange rate used for the income statement/cash flow and WS field 18214 –

Exchange rate used to translate the balance sheet are available. Security prices are

also converted to local currency if expressed in another currency.

To facilitate cross-country screening Worldscope supplies the following additional key

financial variables in U.S. dollars:

Field 07210 Market Capitalization (U.S.$)

Field 07211 Market Capitalization (U.S.$) - Current

Field 07220 Common Equity (U.S.$)

Field 07221 Common Equity (U.S.$) - Current