The Nordic countries include Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Norway and Iceland in Northern Europe. These are called as Nordic countries because they share a common history, cultural and political systems. Scandinavia is sometimes used as a synonym for Nordic countries.

Except Iceland, the other four countries have some of their company stocks listed in the US as ADRs. The following table lists these nine ADRs:

[TABLE=10]

1. Denmark-based shipping company Dampskibsselskabet Torm (TRMD) was a top performing shipping sector stock until recently. Its vessels transport oil, iron ore and other commodities.TORM pays a dividend of 8.02% and the P/E is 1.0. The annual dividend growth over the past 5 years is 58%. After announcing earnings on Nov 21, the company announced that a special shareholder meeting is being called to approve an interim dividend of DKK 4.50 per share. TORM share price fell heavily in recent months as the Baltic Dry Index- which is an index that measures the cost to move goods between places plunged.

2. Novo Nordisk A/S (NVO) is a Denmark-based healthcare company specializing in diabetes care and diabetes products. NVO has a yield of 1.84% and a P/E of 22.81. year-to-date the stock is down only about 20% since healthcare related stocks have held up pretty well in this market. The company is expanding in emerging markets like China where it is setting up a plant. Earnings have grown at 17% annually in the last 5 years.

3.The world famous Nokia (NOK) is a finnish telecom equipment maker. The company makes some of the cheapest and most efficient cell phones and markets around the world. They are especially popular in the developing countries. The current yield is 5.89% and the P/E is 6.85. Due to the current credit crisis and tough competition Nokia announced on November 27 that they will stop selling phones in Japan.4. The OTC listed,UPM-Kymmene(UPMKY) is a paper producer in Finland. The stock is down about 27% year-to-date. P/E is 24.22 and the yield is 8.14%.

5.Acergy SA (ACGY) is a seabed-to-surface engineering and construction contractor that mainly manufactures equipments and services needed by the offshore oil and gas industry. It pays a dividend of 3.67% and the P/E is 5.80. As the price of crude oil fell over 50% in the past few months, oil related stocks including Acergy fell hard. Year-to-date ACGY is down 73.96%.

6.StatoilHydro(STO) is a Norway-based integrated oil and gas producer.It used to be called Statoil ASA. After the merger with Norsk Hydro the company changed its name to Statoil Hydro. Total revenues increased annually 16.5% in the last 5 years. STO currently yields 4.80%

7.Telenor(TELNY) is a mobile telecom services provider in Norway.As the stock price fell over 77% so far this year, the dividend yield has increased to 12.47%. Annual earnings growth in the past 5 years is 42%.

8.Sweden-based Ericcson (ERIC) is an telecom equipment maker. ERIC is down 39% year-to-date. The current yield is 5.92%. Ericsson used to be a high-flying stock during the late 90s but has been mostly flat in the last 5 years.

9.Volvo AB(VOLVY) is a world-class auto and truck manufacturer. In October overall sales fell 12% year-over-year. But truck sales fell a whopping 99.7% as the company took order for just 115 trucks compared to 41,970 in the third quarter of 2007. The current yield is 20.81% and the P/E is 4.78%.

ABN AMRO ADR, which used to traded on the OTC market with ticker ABNYY, has been terminated effective yesterday November 24,2008.

In April of this year ABN Amro de-listed its stock from New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) since a consortium of banks led by Fortis (Holland), Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS -UK) and Banco Santander (STD – Spain) announced a deal to acquire ABN Amro.

Yesterday ABNYY closed at $50.25 on a volume 11,727 shares. ABN Amro’s 52-week high was $62.80.

As per the termination notice issued yesterday by the depository JPMorgan, each ADS (American Depository Shares) shareholder will receive $50.4089 per share.

Original Notice of Termination and Net Proceeds Announcement:
“JPMorgan announces it has received notice from ABN AMRO, terminating the Deposit Agreement (the “Deposit Agreement”) governing the ABN AMRO American Depositary Receipt (“ADR”) program. Such termination shall take effect thirty days from the date hereof. Effective immediately the transfer books of JPMorgan, as depositary under the Deposit Agreement, are closed for all purposes.

As a result of the squeeze-out transfer of all ordinary shares of the Company, including those represented by outstanding American Depositary Shares (ADSs), JPMorgan has received payment of EUR 40.029320 (EUR 37.88 + EUR 2.14932 (accrued interest)) per share for the securities underlying the ADSs of ABN AMRO issued under the Deposit Agreement. The proceeds were converted into US dollars and, as a result thereof, permit a distribution at a net rate of $50.4089 per ADS (after deduction of the expenses permitted under the Deposit Agreement). Hereafter, each ADS represents the right to a holder’s pro rata share in the net proceeds of $50.4089 per ADS. ABN AMRO has agreed to pay any cancellation fees owing in connection with the surrender of outstanding ADSs.”

Source: JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Founded in 1824, ABN Amro is now owned by RFS Holdings B.V. which is the consortium of Royal Bank of Scotland Group, Fortis Bank and Banco Santander. The group paid 70B Euros in October last year to take over ABN Amro.