NSE is third-fastest growing bourse in world

NEW DELHI: India's National Stock Exchange has emerged as the world's third fastest-growing bourse in terms of increase in listed companies, outpacing global names such as NYSE, Nasdaq and London Stock Exchange.

While NSE recorded a 15 per cent jump in the number of listed firms to 1,244 during the one-year period ended April 2007, Bombay Stock Exchange has consolidated its position as home to the maximum number of listed companies in the world.

NSE's 15 per cent growth is next only to 23.3 per cent growth at Poland's Warsaw Stock Exchange and 15.4 per cent for Malta Stock Exchange, data compiled by the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) show.

The Mumbai-based bourse has added 160 companies to its listed universe from a total of 1,082 at the end of April 2006. Out of these, more than 60 companies have joined the bourse this year itself.

The bourse has seen a whopping ten-fold surge in number of listed companies in nearly 13 years from about 100 firms in 1994-95, after it was recognized as a stock exchange under the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act in April 1993.

While Warsaw and Malta Stock Exchanges have clocked higher gains than India's NSE, their 23.3 and 15.4 per cent growth rates were primarily due to a lower base.

In terms of number of companies, Warsaw and Malta bourses added just 56 and two firms respectively, the WFE data show.

Leading global bourses like New York Stock Exchange in the US, UK-based London Stock Exchange and Deutsche Boerse in Europe all recorded lower growth rates.

Bourses like Nasdaq, Euronext and Luxembourg Stock Exchange witnessed a decline in the number of listed companies in the 12-month period to April.

While Bombay Stock Exchange recorded a growth of just 0.6 per cent in the year to April, it consolidated its position as the biggest bourse in terms of listed companies. Tokyo Stock Exchange, with 3,886 companies, is the closest rival with 940 firms less than BSE.

London Stock Exchange (LSE) was the third-biggest with a total of 3,251 companies, followed by Nasdaq with a total of 3,114 companies listed there.

LSE had 1,575 companies less than BSE, while Nasdaq's listed universe was 1,712 companies short of BSE's size.

NSE was closely followed by China's Shenzen exchange which managed to garner a growth rate of 14.2 per cent with as many as 612 firms being listed at the end of last month.

NYSE and LSE recorded 3 per cent and 2.6 per cent gains respectively in the same period, while Euronext and Nasdaq saw their size fall by 2 per cent and 1.1 per cent respectively.

Besides NSE, some other exchanges from emerging markets also posted strong growth rates with the likes of Sao Paolo SE (8 per cent), Australian SE (7.2 per cent), Singapore SE (5 per cent) and Thailand SE (3.4 per cent).

A prime reason for the Polish exchange clinching the pole position can be attributed to the large number of foreign companies (12) being listed at the end of April, data show.

In contrast, no foreign companies are listed on domestic bourses, except for their Indian subsidiaries, although a number of global majors like Coca Cola, Pepsi, IBM, Microsoft, Intel and Vodafone have significant presence in the country.

The situation might improve with a possible entry of foreign firms to Indian bourses through Indian Depository Receipts.