Worldscope Database Datatype Definitions Guide

Issue 6
Frequently Asked Questions
7. DOES WORLDSCOPE ADJUST DATA FOR CORPORATE ACTIONS SUCH AS STOCK SPLITS,
STOCK DIVIDENDS, ETC.?
Yes. Worldscope adjusts all stock data for capital actions. Thus, share-related fields
such as Common Shares Outstanding, Earnings Per Share, Book Value Per Share,
Dividends Per Share, market prices and so on, all appear after adjustment for stock
splits, stock dividends and rights issues. The adjustment factor is cumulative and is
used to adjust the previous years to make them comparable with the most current
year of reporting.
For example, a stock split of 2:1 in 2006 and a stock dividend of 50% in 2003 would
result in an adjustment factor of 0.5 being applied to all stock data in 2005 back
through 2003, and a cumulative adjustment factor of 0.33333 (that is, 0.66666*0.5)
being applied to all stock data prior to 2003. The number of shares is divided by the
factor, while per share data is multiplied by it.
Field 05576, Stock Split/Dividend Ratio contains the adjustment factors on the annual
original time series. (calendar for the US and fiscal for non US). Field 05575 Stock
Split/Dividend Ratio – Fiscal contains the adjustment factors for fiscal per share data.
It is available on all time series supported by Worldscope. Footnote A to Field 05101,
Dividends per Share contains a short description of the capital action(s).
These adjustments are also made at a security level.
8. WHAT COMPANIES ARE INCLUDED ON WORLDSCOPE AND WHAT ARE THE SELECTION
CRITERIA?
The Worldscope database targets coverage of publicly quoted companies. A few
large private companies are also included for some industries. The Worldscope
database also contains history for extinct or inactive companies that were listed but
have since then merged, liquidated or become privately held. Over 70 countries are
represented, and include all countries in targeted global indices (FTSE All World,
Dow Jones Global, MSCI World, MSCI EMF, S&P Global, S&P Citigroup
Coverage criteria is as follows:
1.1. Full Market coverage of all listed companies trading equity securities for developed
markets and a selection of emerging markets (excludes mutual and closed end
investment funds).
At December 2006:
• Developed markets
Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada (excludes Canadian Venture listings), Denmark,
Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg,
Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United
Kingdom, United States
• Advanced emerging
Brazil, Mexico, Korea (excls KOSDAQ), South Africa
• Emerging
Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, China , Taiwan
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