Brendan Wood International Today Announced That Wal-Mart Stores Ranked 1st in the World in Shareholder Confidence
HAMILTON, Bermuda--July 15, 2003--3,000 Institutional Investors Use 24 Criteria to Score Top Retailer's
Performance
Capital markets intelligence firm, Brendan Wood International (BWI), today released 2nd quarter results from its proprietary Shareholder Confidence World Watch program. This ongoing intelligence program evaluates shareholder confidence in approximately 550 of the world's largest companies, accounting for about 75% of world stock trading.
The results are obtained through portfolio debriefings with a Shareholder Confidence Panel of over 3,000 leading institutional investors in 26 countries and the advisors who influence their views (top analysts and sales professionals at a majority of the world's leading investment banks). The Panel has increased in size by about 35% since 1st quarter 2003 as global investors intensify their scrutiny of corporate performance, shareholder confidence and governance issues.
The investigative process includes a discussion of why investors have bought, sold or changed their recommendations in the world's largest companies. Each company is rated on 24 shareholder confidence criteria and attributed an index score; the highest possible score is 1100.
Current services base their corporate governance ratings on public data and interviews with company management. In contrast, BWI's Shareholder Confidence program is the only corporate governance tool which actually speaks to the over 3,000 money managers who voice the views and concerns of the shareholder.
Global Top 10 Companies by Shareholder Confidence Votes:
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Q2 Q1
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1) Wal-Mart Stores (US) 1st 961 8th 903
2) Intuit Inc. (US) 2nd 950 new to Index
3) Kohl's Corp (US) 3rd 937 3rd 921
4) Apache Corp. (US) 4th 929 14th 885
5) Bed Bath & Beyond (US) 5th 923 35th 864
6) Wellpoint Health Networks Inc. (US) 6th 922 5th 919
7) Yukos (RUS) 7th 921 9th 900
8) Inditex SA (ESP) 8th 917 25th 877
9) Starbucks (US) 9th 916 4th 920
10)Teva Pharmaceuticals (ISR) 10th 915 2nd 952
Brendan Wood, Chairman of Brendan Wood International said, "The responsibility of corporations to shareholders has been getting increasing attention in the form of Corporate Governance ratings. Surprisingly, these scores are based on publicly available data without any value attributed to the opinions of the most important constituent -- institutional shareholders. The BWI Shareholder Confidence program provides an independent audit that measures the performance of management based on 24 criteria, thereby becoming the ultimate voice of the shareholder. It monitors a company's relative strengths, providing for the first time a direct link between the Board and shareholders. This goes to the very heart of what drives corporate governance best practices and how major shareholders perceive their effectiveness."
Wood added, "Restoring investor confidence can only be accomplished through a credible audit of a Company's interaction with the capital markets community. Only when Boards pay attention to these audits and alter their governance practices accordingly will companies and shareholders move in tandem for the benefit of all."
Top 10 Companies Ranked by Corporate Governance
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1) Banco Itau SA (BRA)
2) Hennes & Mauritz AB (SWE)
3) Rohm Co. Ltd. (JPN)
4) Wellpoint Health Networks Inc. (US)
5) L'Oreal SA (FRA)
6) Kohl's Corp (US)
7) CLP Holdings Ltd. (HKG)
8) Takeda Chemical Industries Ltd. (JPN)
9) Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC (UK)
10) POSCO (KOR)
Top 10 Companies Ranked Attractive as a Short Term Investment Target
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1) Intuit Inc. (US)
2) Sibneft (RUS)
3) Inditex SA (ESP)
4) Yukos (RUS)
5) Apache Corp. (US)
6) Suncor Energy Inc. (CAN)
7) News Corp. Ltd (AUS)
8) Takeda Chemical Industries Ltd. (JPN)
9) CLP Holdings Ltd. (HKG)
10) Kingfisher PLC (UK)
Companies are evaluated on the following 24 Shareholder Confidence Criteria:
1) Attractiveness of the Stock as a Short Term Investment Target
2) Attractiveness of the Stock as a Long Term Investment Target
Quality of Company's Leadership & Management
3) CEO Vision for the business, creativity, innovation
4) Senior Management Depth: Strength of the management team and
the availability of viable succession candidates
5) Corporate Governance: Integrity of CEO & Senior Management's
corporate governance behavior, and compliance with letter and
spirit of regulation
Quality of the Board of Directors
6) Contribution of the Board of Directors: As a driving force in
the business success of the company
7) Corporate Governance of the Board: Advancing shareholder
interests, compliance and integrity
Responsible Management of Shareholder Expectations
8) Quality of the Annual/Quarterly Reports
9) Timeliness of Disclosure (particularly bad news)
10) Frankness/ Honesty & Depth of information
11) Availability vs. Demand of Senior Management to Shareholders
12) Quality & Power of the "Brand": Market Confidence in the
Brand, Product quality and marketability
13) Market leader in key segment(s): Premium market share / volume
for leadership
14) Is this company's competitive positioning increasing / static
/ declining?
Growth Potential Short and Mid Term
15) Ability to grow earnings organically
16) Ability to expand product range
17) Ability to expand geographically
18) Ability to expand profit margins / "cost leader"
Inorganic Potential
19) Strength of company as an acquisitor (consolidator)
20) Attractiveness of company as an acquisition target
Company's Financial Parameters
21) P/E (price/earnings) Ratio
22) Dividend Yield
23) Value of Company's Assets
24) Debt Load
About Brendan Wood International
Bermuda-based Brendan Wood International (www.brendanwood.com) is an independent global organization providing predictive business intelligence services to banks, financial services institutions and corporate participants in the capital markets of the world.
The firm is particularly well known for the intensity and depth of its investigative research. Hence, the ability to help clients "zero in" on the narrowest market segments, even to the specific dynamics of individual transactions and personalities. The firm regularly debriefs leading executives in over 40 countries. Among other reports, Brendan Wood International publishes the world's most comprehensive and detailed reports on the investment banking industry, the largest trade finance study, and the most comprehensive shareholder confidence assessment. Asset management, including hedge funds, derivatives and secondary securities trading are also key markets investigated by BWI. A majority of the world's leading financial institutions are frequent clients of Brendan Wood International.
The Brendan Wood name has been associated with the highest quality intelligence and management counsel for leading decision makers in the capital markets for more than thirty years.
Note: List of Top 3 Performers Per Industry is available upon request.