ORBIS QuickGuide Copyright 2003 Bureau van Dijk Electronic Publishing (www.bvdep.com) Last updated July 2003

ORBIS QuickGuide Copyright 2003 Bureau van Dijk Electronic Publishing (www.bvdep.com) Last updated July 2003

Table of Contents 1.0 ORBIS Introduction 3 1.1 System Requirements 3 1.2 Getting Started 3 2.0 The Quick Multi-Step Search Window 3 2.1 Searching by Company Name 4 2.2 Searching by Ticker 5 2.3 Searching by Location 5 2.4 Searching by Industry 6 2.5 Searching by Company Type 7 2.6 Searching by Ownership 7 2.7 Searching by Size 8 2.7 Searching by News 8 2.7 Searching by Top Range of Companies 8 3.0 Viewing Search Results 9 3.1 Viewing a Company Report 10 4.0 Working with a Company Report 11 5.0 Working with ORBIS 13 6.0 User Support 13 ORBIS QuickGuide Copyright 2002 Bureau van Dijk Electronic Publishing 2

1.0 ORBIS Introduction ORBIS is a global product combining data from BvD s collection of company information databases with searching and analysis software. It has information on approaching 10 million companies including: 31,000 listed companies worldwide, over 13,000 banks and 6,000 insurance companies, approximately 8.5 million European companies from 35 countries, 1.5 million US companies and 110,000 Japanese companies. ORBIS is available on the Internet at http://orbis.bvdep.com. 1.1 System Requirements In order to use ORBIS, you will need the following: Access to the Internet using either Internet Explorer version 5 or Netscape Navigator 4 Windows 95, 98, 2000 or NT 4.0 or higher VGA Colour Screen A username and password provided by Bureau van Dijk 1.2 Getting Started 1. Start your browser and go to http://orbis.bvdep.com. The following login screen is displayed. Enter your username and password in the appropriate boxes. 2. Click the OK button to open the product. 2.0 The Quick Multi-Step Search Window Searching across all the companies, banks, and insurance firms on ORBIS is easy using the multi-step search screen offering 8 different criteria, including: Company Name Ticker Location Industry Company type Ownership Size News Top range of companies Simply complete one or all of the criteria shown on the window below and then click Search to activate your search and access a resulting list of companies. ORBIS QuickGuide Copyright 2002 Bureau van Dijk Electronic Publishing 3

Note: The Help button on the Multi-Step search window offers detailed information, search tips and definitions of BvD terminology used in ORBIS. Notes: Complete as many of the search criteria as you need, then click the Search button. 2.1 Searching by Company Name 1. To search by Company name, simply enter one or more character strings separated by a blank space in the Company name edit-box. This will retrieve companies containing the entered character string(s) at the beginning of one of the words in the company name. If several character strings are entered, the implicit link will be "AND," so that company names having words beginning with each character string entered will be retrieved. Note: It is not possible to search for and retrieve multiple companies by entering multiple company names in this edit-box. Every company retrieved will contain the character string(s) you enter in the edit-box. 2. Click the Match on whole words only option to retrieved only company names containing words that exactly match the character string entered. Examples: Character String Entered Match on Whole Words Only option Will Retrieve the following Volvo not checked Volvo Volvox-rollen GmbH volvo cent not checked Volvo Truck Center GmbH Will Not Retrieve the following Volvo Heinz Autocenter GmbH Descam checked Descam SA Descamme SA 3. Complete another criteria in the Multi-Step window if you wish to further refine your ORBIS QuickGuide Copyright 2002 Bureau van Dijk Electronic Publishing 4

2.2 Searching by Ticker 1. To search by Ticker, simply enter the required ticker symbol in the entry box. To find multiple companies, enter each ticker symbol, separated by a comma. Note: A given ticker may be attached to more than one company (for example, F designates Ford on the NYSE and Fiat on the Borsa Italiana.) Conversely, a given company may have more than one ticker. 2. If you do not know the ticker symbol, click Lookup for assistance with this search step. The following window will open. Ticker Lookup a. Enter the company name, or part of it, in the space provided, then click Find. As shown above, the resulting table will display all companies matching the character string entered. b. To select a company, click the check box to the left of the company name. c. Enter additional tickers, repeating this process until all desired companies have been checked and click OK when finished. Note: The tickers for all companies that are checked in the Ticker Lookup, will appear in the Ticker edit-box on the Quick Multi-Step search window. 3. Complete another criteria in the Multi-Step window if you wish to further refine your 2.3 Searching by Location 1. To search by Location, simply enter the location name in the associated edit-box. To find multiple locations, enter each name separated by commas. Note: A country can be retrieved by entering its 2-letter ISO code or its full name. 2. If you prefer to select the location from a list of world and political regions, countries, and regions within countries, click Lookup. The following window will open: ORBIS QuickGuide Copyright 2002 Bureau van Dijk Electronic Publishing 5

Region Lookup a. The Lookup screen, shown above, will display the 8 geographical and 7 political world regions followed by the list of all world countries (when there are no companies on ORBIS in a given country, its name is inactivated). b. To find the countries included in a region or the states/provinces included in a country, click on the +. Click on the sign to close this sub-set. c. To select a region or country, simply mark the check box next to the desired location. Mark as many regions or countries as desired and click OK when finished. 3. Complete another criteria in the Multi-Step window if you wish to further refine your 2.4 Searching by Industry 1. To search by Industry, simply enter an industry name, phrase, or code in Industry editbox. Note: The Boolean operators AND, OR, AND NOT can be used to search for words in an industry title or description. 2. If you prefer to select an industry code from an available list, click Lookup. The following window will open. ORBIS QuickGuide Copyright 2002 Bureau van Dijk Electronic Publishing 6

Industry Lookup a. Select the industry classification you wish to use; NAICS, US SIC, NACE 1. b. To find the industries grouped together under a common heading, click on the +. Click on the sign to close this sub-set. c. To select an industry, simply mark the check box next to the desired location. Mark as many industries as desired to retrieve companies involved in at least one of the selected codes. d. Choose whether you wish to retrieve companies that have the selected industries as Their primary codes or All codes (either primary or secondary). Click OK when finished. 3. Complete another criteria in the Multi-Step window if you wish to further refine your 2.5 Searching by Company Type 1. To search by Company type, simply mark the desired check box beside either Publicly quoted companies or Private companies. Note: ORBIS contains approximately 31,000 publicly quoted companies worldwide (those whose stock is traded on a stock exchange). There are 131 stock exchanges worldwide with at least one company listed on ORBIS. Publicly quoted companies also includes over-the-counter (OTC) companies without a specific trading location. 2. Complete another criteria in the Multi-Step window if you wish to further refine your 2.6 Searching by Ownership 1. To search by Ownership, select either the qualified or the unqualified Independent companies. To select companies having no known single (private or company) shareholder with more than 24.9% direct or total ownership in the company, select Independent comp.only, qual. ORBIS QuickGuide Copyright 2002 Bureau van Dijk Electronic Publishing 7

Check Independent comp. only, unqual. to retrieve the companies above ( qualified ) as well as any companies that have known shareholders but the percentage of ownership of all these shareholders is unknown. Note: The following categories of shareholders are not included in this logic: public; unnamed private shareholders, aggregated; other unnamed shareholders, aggregated. So, a company deemed Independent by BvD methodology might list one (or more) of these types of shareholders with more than 24.9% ownership. 2. Complete another criteria in the Multi-Step window if you wish to further refine your 2.7 Searching by Size 1. To search by Size, first select one of 6 major currencies from the list available; Japanese Yen (JPY), Canadian Dollars (CAD), Swiss Francs (CHF), European Euros (EUR), British Pounds (GBP) or US Dollars (USD). 2. Choose to perform you search on Sales, Number of Employees or Total Assets by marking the preceding radial button. 3. Enter a minimum and / or a maximum value for the variable. Note the associated currency delimiter (billions or millions). 4. Mark the option With estimates if you would like to include companies whose figures are not known, but for which BvD has estimated a figure. Note: You can click the Help button for details on how estimates are calculated. Estimated figures are not presented in the company lists or reports. Estimates are calculated for statistical purposes only. 4. Complete another criteria in the Multi-Step window if you wish to further refine your 2.8 Searching by News 1. To search by News, simply enter one or more words in the edit-box to locate in the news articles. Note: When you click Search following a news search entry, you will retrieve all companies with related news articles that contain the words you entered. 2. Complete another option in the Multi-Step window if you wish to further refine your 2.9 Searching by Top Range of Companies 1. To limit your search to a list of the Top companies satisfying your criteria, select the desired number of companies from the drop down menu. You can limit your results to the top 10, 25, 50, 100 or 250 companies. ORBIS QuickGuide Copyright 2002 Bureau van Dijk Electronic Publishing 8

2. Click one of the radial buttons to specify on what variable the ranking should be based; Sales, Number of employees, or Total Assets. 3. Complete another criteria in the Multi-Step window if you wish to further refine your 3.0 Viewing Search Results 1. After clicking Search, you will be taken to the list of companies satisfying the criteria you entered. The total number of retrieved companies will be indicated in the middle of the lower toolbar in the list view. Note: If your search retrieves no companies, you will receive a message similar to the one shown below summarizing the your search criteria. Check your search for any errors and click Back to return to the search window. Your search options will be retained so you can modify them as necessary and Search again. 2. The results will display the Company name, Postcode and City, Country code, Industry description, Size class and ID number in lists of 25 companies at a time. Note: Credit-based subscribers see with the following Credit Alert Window before viewing the list. This displays the number of credits remaining, the number of credits required, a free Preview List button, and an OK button, which requires credits for a detailed list. The preview list shows the Company name, Country code and Size class. It is possible to perform all normal list functions (Sort, Delete, etc.) from the preview list. 3. For any type of subscription, you can use various buttons available at the bottom of the screen to move through and adjust your list of resulting companies. Home Previous 25 Next 25 End Sort Delete Go Back Clear Search returns to the first page of companies in the list takes you to the previous 25 companies in your results takes you to the next 25 companies in your results jumps to the last page of companies in the list sorts the list by Name, Size class, Sales, Total assets or Employees. removes the marked or unmarked companies or a range of companies from the list. Click the check box by the company name in the list to Mark a company returns to the search interface, retaining your search entries removes the current search and returns you to the search window ORBIS QuickGuide Copyright 2002 Bureau van Dijk Electronic Publishing 9

3.1 Viewing a Company Report 1. To view a report, click on the desired company name in the list of search results. Multiple reports will be available, depending on which BvD databases contain the company. Note: You can click Show explanations to view a brief description of the data content for each report. Click the source (OSIRIS, AMADEUS, etc.) to access information about the data content of each BvD database source. ORBIS QuickGuide Copyright 2002 Bureau van Dijk Electronic Publishing 10

2. To view the company report, click the desired report name from this list. Click Close if you wish to return to the list and select a different company. Note: The number of credits required for each report is shown at the right, above the source indication. Users with unlimited subscriptions to one or more BvD databases will have Free access to reports from those sources. Users with unlimited access to ORBIS have Free access to any report. Credit subscribers will also view a credit alert window (shown below) before the report is retrieved. This window will display the number of credits remaining, the credits required, the name of the company selected, the latest accounting year available and the number of available years for the company. Click OK to view the report or Close to go back. 3. The company report will be opened in a new window, allowing full access for users to customize, analyze, and graph the company. 4.0 Working with a Company Report 1. Depending on the report selected, users will be able to graph company data, change the format of the report, adjust the report layout, setup an alert, print or export the information. ORBIS QuickGuide Copyright 2002 Bureau van Dijk Electronic Publishing 11

2. Graphing can include the following options and require no additional credit usage (with the exception of the Peer Report and when the user jumps to a new company report from within the Ownership Tree.) Displays a graph of the company s balance sheet Displays a graph of the company s profit and loss account Illustrates the evolution of a user-selected variable across time in a bar chart Illustrates the evolution of several user-selected variables in indices across time in a line chart Illustrates the evolution of several user-selected variables across time in the quartiles of the peer group Displays the company ownership structure Illustrates the evolution of stock price across time (only available from reports sourced in OSIRIS) Illustrates the evolution of the stock price EPS and P/E Ratio across time in comparison to the standard peer group (only available from reports sourced in OSIRIS) Displays the user-customizable default peer report of the company. This requires additional credits. Note: Not all graphs are available for all report types. Additional options may also be available. 3. Click Format to select and view a single data sections of a company report or to design a new report format. Designing a new report format allows you to select and combine the specific data sections of interest to include in your report. Note: For further assistance, please follow the Formatting a Company Report: Internet tutorial located on the ORBIS Product Support Centre at http://support.bvdep.com. 4. Click Layout to adjust the columns of data displayed in the report, including the years shown and the currency of the data. Note: For further assistance, please follow the Formatting a List: Internet tutorial located on the ORBIS Product Support Centre at http://support.bvdep.com. 5. Click Alert if you would like to receive an email alert when new information on the company is available. 6. Click the Help icon to access information about the data in the report. 7. The Print icon will enable you to print the currently viewed company report. 8. The Export icon allows you export data to various formats including.xls,.doc,.rtf,.asc,.txt. Once you have selected a format, click the Export button. You will then be required to specify your desired file location and click Close when the export is complete. Note: If you wish to print or export a report in a different currency, or with different data sections, remember to change your Layout or Format before printing. ORBIS QuickGuide Copyright 2002 Bureau van Dijk Electronic Publishing 12

5.0 Working with ORBIS Various icons are available at the top of most screens in ORBIS. These icons are explained below: Email a file with the displayed information to a specified email address Prints the displayed information Exports the displayed information to.xls,.doc,.rtf,.asc,.txt Opens help information about the product and links to product support documentation on http://support.bvdep.com Clears what you are doing and enables you to start over Enables the user to change preferences including regional settings, log in information and configuration Terminates the connection and exits the product 6.0 User Support Bureau van Dijk offers all users full support for both data and technical questions. For assistance, please visit our client support website support.bvdep.com or contact your account manager or the nearest Bureau van Dijk office: Location Email Telephone Austria help.wien@bvdep.com 43 (1) 958 10 84 Belgium: help.brussels@bvdep.com 32 (2) 639 06 06 Eastern Europe: help.bratislava@bvdep.com 421 (2) 5063 3326 France: help.paris@bvdep.com 33 (01) 53 45 46 00 Germany: help.frankfurt@bvdep.com 49 (69) 96 36 65 0 Italy: help.milan@bvdep.com 39 (02) 43 98 22 77 Japan: help.tokyo@bvdep.com 81 (3) 5256 6720 Netherlands help.amsterdam@bvdep.com 31 (20) 671 99 26 Portugal: help.madrid@bvdep.com 34 91 454 70 98 Scandinavia: help.scandinavia@bvdep.com 44 (20) 7549 5050 Singapore: help.singapore@bvdep.com 65 6325 1230 Spain: help.madrid@bvdep.com 34 91 454 70 98 Switzerland: help.geneva@bvdep.com 41 22 703 51 43 United Kingdom: help.london@bvdep.com 44 (20) 7549 5050 United States: help.newyork@bvdep.com 1 (212) 797 3560 ORBIS QuickGuide Copyright 2002 Bureau van Dijk Electronic Publishing 13