Mercedes 2006 Annual Report Download - page 43

Commitment to Excellence | DaimlerChrysler Shares |27
As a result of this increased demand, DaimlerChrysler shares
recovered a large part of their lost ground by the middle of
September and developed better than the market as a whole.
The upward trend was interrupted by the announcement
of a reduced earnings outlook for the Chrysler Group and the
DaimlerChrysler Group on September 15. But after a brief
phase of sideways movement, the share price continued to climb.
Demand from investors was supported by the positive development
of business at the Mercedes Car Group and at the Truck Group.
From the end of June until the middle of November, the price
of DaimlerChrysler shares increased by nearly 30% to €48. This
development was significantly better than that of both the
German stock market and the international automotive sector.
At the end of November, the positive stock-market sentiment was
dampened by the significant weakening of the US dollar against
the euro. This prompted investors to sell shares in companies
with high volumes of business in the dollar zone, consequentially
putting pressure on DaimlerChrysler’s share price. By the end
of the year, the share price had overcome this temporary weaker
phase. The closing price at the end of 2006 was €46.80 in
Frankfurt (Xetra trading) and US $61.41 in New York. Following
slight increases at the beginning of 2007, DaimlerChrysler’s
share price rose sharply after the Annual Press Conference on
February 14, 2007.
Stock-exchange listings focus on major trading centers.
In recent years, trading in DaimlerChrysler shares has increasingly
concentrated on specific stock exchanges. For this reason,
we analyzed our worldwide stock-exchange listings from a cost-
benefit viewpoint in 2006. One of the factors we took into
consideration was the impact of the listings on the complexity of
our administrative processes. On June 20, 2006, we announced
the discontinuation of listings at 12 stock exchanges in the United
States, Japan and Europe. Effective December 30, 2006,
DaimlerChrysler shares are now only listed on the stock exchanges
in Frankfurt, New York (NYSE) and Stuttgart.
Broad shareholder base. DaimlerChrysler has a broad
shareholder base of approximately 1.3 million shareholders.
At the end of 2006, the largest shareholder was the Kuwait
Investment Authority with a holding of 7.1%. In total, institutional
investors held 72.4% of our equity and private investors
held 20.5%. Around 75% of our capital stock was in the hands of
European investors and around 17% was held by US investors.
In the German DAX 30 index, DaimlerChrysler shares were
ranked in fifth position at the end of 2006 with a weighting of
6.47%. In the Dow Jones Euro Stoxx 50 index, our stock was
represented with a weighting of 2.1%.
Global trading volume in DaimlerChrysler stock amounted to
approximately 1.9 billion shares in the year 2006 (2005: 1.7 billion),
of which 96 million were traded in the United States (2005:
111 million) and 1,779 million in Germany (2005: 1,577 million).
Share price index
12/29/0610/31/068/31/06
6/30/06
4/28/06
2/28/0612/30/05
DaimlerChrysler Dow Jones STOXX Auto Index DAX
150
140
130
120
110
100
90
80
70
(in €)
42.50
45.00
47.50
50.00
52.50
40.00
37.50
35.00
32.50 DecNovOctSeptAugJulyJuneMayAprMarFebJan
DaimlerChrysler share price (high/low)