Market capitalisation and free float on UZSE

Two numbers tell you a lot about a listed company before you look at a single report: how much the market values it, and how many of its shares can actually be bought and sold. The first is market capitalisation. The second is free float. On the Republican Stock Exchange «Toshkent» (UZSE), where many companies have a large state or strategic shareholder, the gap between the two can be wide. This guide explains both, with a real example and the exchange's own definitions.

Market capitalisation

Market capitalisation is the market value of all of a company's shares:

• Market capitalisation = number of shares × market price per share

If a company has more than one class of shares, each class is counted at its own price and the results are added.

A real example: Uzbektelecom

UZSE publishes this calculation on each company's page. For Uzbektelecom, as of 25 September 2026 (uzse.uz):

• Common shares (UZTL): 818,339,529 shares, last price 17,207 UZS.
• Preferred shares (UZTLP): 29,593,458 shares, last price 10,000 UZS.

The arithmetic:

• Common: 818,339,529 × 17,207 = 14,081,168,275,503 UZS
• Preferred: 29,593,458 × 10,000 = 295,934,580,000 UZS
• Total: 14,377,102,855,503 UZS, about 14.38 trillion UZS

That total is the market capitalisation the exchange shows for the company. Finmind's public page for UZTL shows "market capitalisation, this share class", which counts the common shares only (about 14.08 trillion UZS on the same close). Both figures are correct: they simply answer different questions. When you compare companies, make sure you compare like with like.

Market capitalisation is not charter capital

UZSE's page also lists the company's share capital: 978,514,666,998 UZS for Uzbektelecom on the same date. That is the number of shares multiplied by their par (nominal) value of 1,154 UZS, not by the market price. Under the Law on joint-stock companies, the charter capital is made up of the par value of the shares acquired by shareholders and sets the minimum amount of property that guarantees creditors' interests (lex.uz, article 16, as of 26 September 2026).

Par value is fixed in the company's documents. Market price moves every trading day. In this example the market values the company at roughly 14.7 times its charter capital. The ratio differs widely between companies and says nothing on its own about whether a share is cheap or expensive.

What market capitalisation tells you, and what it does not

It is useful for:

• Size. It shows how large a company is in the market's eyes, which helps when you compare it with others in the same sector.
• Ratios. Price-to-earnings and price-to-book can be calculated for the whole company as market capitalisation divided by net profit or by equity. P/E, dividends and dividend yield shows how.
• Concentration. If one company is a large share of what you own, its market value tells you how much of your portfolio depends on it.

Its limits:

• It uses the last price. For a share that trades rarely, the last price may be days old, so the market capitalisation is only as current as that trade.
• It ignores debt and cash. Two companies with the same market capitalisation can have very different debts. Analysts sometimes add net debt to get enterprise value, the value of the whole business.
• It counts every share, even those that never trade. That is where free float comes in.

Free float

Free float is the part of a company's shares that is actually available to trade. UZSE's regulation on its quotation list defines it as the proportion of securities in free circulation, and excludes securities held (regulation on the quotation list, as amended on 5 May 2026, as of 26 September 2026):

• by the state or state and local government bodies;
• by companies in which the state holds 50% or more of the charter capital;
• by persons who individually hold more than 5% of the issuer's charter capital;
• by members of the supervisory board and the executive body;
• in restricted circulation, such as shares under attachment, pledged or sold under a repo agreement;
• in the issuer's own account during a placement.

Shares or depositary receipts traded on foreign exchanges under a dual listing are counted in full.

A worked example

The numbers are illustrative. Suppose a company has 100,000,000 shares:

• The state holds 60,000,000.
• A company that is 55% state-owned holds 10,000,000.
• A private investor holds 8,000,000 (8% of the company).
• Board members hold 500,000.
• 1,500,000 shares are pledged.

Excluded: 60,000,000 + 10,000,000 + 8,000,000 + 500,000 + 1,500,000 = 80,000,000. Free float: 20,000,000 shares, or 20%.

If the share trades at 5,000 UZS, the market capitalisation is 500 billion UZS, but the value of the free float is only 100 billion UZS. That smaller figure is closer to what the market can actually trade.

Why free float matters on UZSE

• Listing categories. For the top "Premium" category of the quotation list, an issuer needs a free float of at least 15%, and must keep at least 15% each calendar year to stay there. For the "Standard" category, the requirement to stay listed is at least 1% each calendar year, and it does not apply to companies that carried out an IPO or SPO through organised exchange trading.
• Liquidity. A small free float usually means fewer shares changing hands, wider spreads and larger price moves on modest orders. Liquidity risk and thinly traded stocks looks at this in detail.
• Who decides. A company with a small free float is controlled by its large holders. Minority shareholders have limited influence on decisions such as dividends.
• Future supply. If a large holder, including the state, sells part of its stake through the exchange, the free float can grow quickly. Such sales are often announced as public offerings. IPOs in Uzbekistan explains how they work.

Where to find the numbers

• UZSE: each company's page on uzse.uz lists the number of shares of each class, their par value, the last price and the market capitalisation.
• openinfo.uz: issuers disclose their shareholders with stakes above set thresholds, annual reports and material facts on openinfo.uz.
• Finmind: every share has a public page on the stocks page with its market capitalisation for that class, shares outstanding, P/E and P/B based on the latest reported figures.

This article is for education only and is not investment advice. Investing in securities involves risk, including the loss of money you invest.