A total of 22.1 million Veidekke shares were traded over the stock exchange during the fourth quarter. Veidekke’s largest shareholders are OBOS (28.0 per cent), IF Skadeförsäkring AB (8.7 per cent) and Folketrygdfondet (7.3 per cent). Foreign investors hold 22 per cent of the shares.

In the fourth quarter, Veidekke once again invited all permanent employees to buy shares in the company. 5,700 employees were given the opportunity to purchase between 50 and 2,000 shares at a 20 per cent discount, with a lock-in period of two years. Altogether 1,792 employees took up the offer. Following this year’s sale of shares, 3,300 employees own a total of 25.8 million Veidekke shares. Thus, the employee ownership share amounts to 19.3 per cent.

During the quarter, the price of a Veidekke share fluctuated between NOK 42.90 and NOK 53.50. There were no buybacks of shares in the fourth quarter of 2009.