Foreign investors hold one third of UK shares - Share Ownership 2004.

M2 PRESSWIRE-10 June 2005-UK Government: Foreign investors hold one third of UK shares - Share Ownership 2004(C)1994-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD

RDATE:10062005

Rest of the world investors owned 33 per cent of UK shares listed on the London Stock Exchange at the end of 2004, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) report on share ownership

* published today. Between 1st January 2004 and 31st December 2004 the UK Stock Market was valued at GBP1,480 billion (almost GBP1.5 trillion) - an increase of GBP112 billion (8 per cent) over the year.

Further analysis of the ownership of shares in the UK shows that:

* UK individuals' owned GBP208 billion of shares, 14 per cent

* Almost 50 per cent, GBP722 billion, of all UK shares are owned by financial institutions with insurance companies owning GBP254 billion and pension funds owning GBP233 billion.

* After a significant rise between 2000 and 2001 (5 per cent to 10 per cent), holdings of UK shares by "other" financial institutions' have stabilised at around 11 per cent for the last three years.

* Banks own GBP40 billion (3 per cent) of UK shares - their highest proportion since the survey began in 1963.

* Foreign investors owned GBP483 billion (33 per cent) of the UK's ordinary shares and of this GBP164 billion (34 per cent) were held by investors based in Europe.

* The FTSE 100 companies continue to dominate the UK Stock Market. The proportion of funds invested in these companies varies between 65 per cent for individuals and 86 per cent by the overseas investors.

More generally the long term trend shows that the percentage of shares held by foreign investors continues to increase while the percentage holdings of individuals is decreasing.

* Share Ownership 2004

The following table gives further details of share ownership in the UK:

Total equity owned GBP billion 31 December 2004 Rest of the world 483.2 Insurance companies 254.2 Pension funds 232.6 Individuals 208.4 Unit Trusts 27.5 Investment Trusts 48.5 Other Financial Institutions 158.9 Charities 16.2 Private non-financial companies 9.6 Public Sector 1.4 Banks 39.7 Total 1480.2

Unidentified holders have been allocated proportionately across all beneficial sectors

The results of the survey are used to improve the classification of the ownership of shares in the National Accounts and to assign the dividends received to the correct sector of owner.

BACKGROUND NOTES

1. Further Information can be obtained from the publication Share Ownership - A report on ownership of shares as at 31st December 2004 available free on the internet at:

http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=930&Pos=1&ColRa nk =1&Rank=272

2. The 2004 survey used data from the CREST system. The survey looked at the registers of 199 companies (207 registers). The companies in the main sample represented approximately 85 per cent of the capitalisation of UK companies listed on the London Stock Exchange.

The Office for National Statistics would like to thank CrestCo without whose assistance this survey would not have been possible.

3. The 2004 survey contains revisions to figures published in last year's survey. The revisions affect Pension Funds and Public Sector figures for 2003 only.

4. ONS is currently reviewing the frequency of the survey; future surveys may not be annual.

5. Complete runs of series in this Release are available to download free of charge at http://www.statistics.gov.uk/timeseries.

Alternatively, for low-cost tailored data call Online Services on 020 7533 5675 or email tailored@statistics.gov.uk

6. National Statistics are produced to high professional standards set out in the National Statistics Code of Practice. They undergo regular quality assurance reviews to ensure that they meet customer needs.

They are produced free from any political interference. (c)Crown copyright 2005.

CONTACT: National StatisticsTel: +44 (0)845 601 3034 WWW: http://www.statistics.gov.uk

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