Norway's Wealth Fund to Shun More Coal Users

Norway's $868-billion wealth fund is looking at excluding some 40 companies from its investments due to their use of coal, with these companies being mostly power producers and some already out of the fund's investments, its CEO said on Friday.

"In practice ... they are mostly power companies. They are spread across all the countries we are invested in. A majority are in countries where we have had problems to get good information," fund CEO Yngve Slyngstad told reporters after a parliamentary hearing on the fund's management.

Norway's parliament decided in June 2015 that the fund would divest from firms that derive more than 30 percent of their turnover or activity from coal. Some 52 companies have already been banned.

He said the list of the additional companies would likely be published in connection with the fund's third-quarter results later this year.

"It is reasonable to expect that we have sold us out from a number of those companies (already)," he added.

Reporting by Gwladys Fouche