15th Annual IR Magazine UK Awards Held in London
<http://www.asiacorpnet.com/?page_num=1> ACN 15th Annual IR Magazine UK Awards Held in London London, United Kingdom, June 29, 2005 - (ACN Newswire) - The 15th annual IR Magazine UK Awards, which awards companies and individuals who excel in a number of categories related to investor relations, including corporate governance and disclosure, were held on Tuesday night, June 14. Over 800 corporate investor relations professionals, CEOs, CFOs and IR consultants gathered in London to honour the top corporate communicators among UK companies. Among the companies that stood out for their IR efforts this year were Acambis (LSE:ACM.L), Biocompatibles International (LSE:BII.L), BP (LSE:BP.L) and Hammerson (LSE:HMSO.L). Acambis (LSE:ACM.L) and Biocompatibles (LSE:BIL.L) shared the grand prix for best smaller company investor relations while BP won the grand prix for best overall investor relations and Hammerson took home the grand prix for best investor relations from a FTSE 250 company. BP swept the awards, taking home top honours for five out of 24 categories and won the evening's top prize: the grand prix for best overall investor relations. The energy group also won for best UK company investor relations in the US market, best annual report from a FTSE 100 company and best investor relations officer in the FTSE 100 category, which was shared by Peter Hall and Fergus Macleod. For the past 15 years, Cross-Border Publishing, publishers of IR magazine, has commissioned an annual independent survey of the investment community to identify those companies considered to be leading exponents of investor relations in the UK. The research, conducted this year by Mary Maude Research, surveyed 648 sell-side and buy-side analysts, portfolio managers and retail investors. It also encapsulates industry changes, reviews investors' requirements and investigates contemporary developments affecting the IR profession. In addition, respondents also shared their views on the impact of corporate governance, readiness of international financial reporting standards (IFRS), communication with executive and non-executive directors and the necessity of non-executive financial specialists. The survey found 50 percent of those polled believe unequivocally that good corporate governance improves a company's share price in the long term, suggesting that good corporate governance makes companies worth investing in. The survey results are published in Investor Perception Study, 'UK 2005: Winning companies, winning IR strategies'. Adrienne Baker, editor-in-chief of IR magazine, says, "The survey results have always served as a benchmark of best practice IR. It's important to remember and underscore that the majority of companies carry out transparent shareholder communications and our awards are a way of singling out those individuals and companies that have truly distinguished themselves through their IR performance." Upcoming Asian IR Award Events Sept. 21, 2005 - Australia Conference and Awards (Sydney) Nov. 1, 2005 - China Conference and Awards (Shanghai) Nov. 3, 2005 - Hong Kong Conference and Awards Nov. 8, 2005 - South East Asia Conference and Awards (Singapore) For more information, please visit http://www.irmag.com/static/awards/index.html 2005 IR Magazine UK Award Winners Grand prix for best overall investor relations Winner: BP (LSE: BP.L) Highly commended: Barclays (LSE: BARC.L) RBS (LSE: RBS.L) Grand prix for best smaller company investor relations Winners: Acambis (LSE: ACM.L), Biocompatibles International (LSE: BIL.L) Highly commended: Hyder Consulting (LSE: HYC.L) Rok Property Solutions (LSE: ROK.L) Grand prix for best investor relations from a FTSE 250 company Winner: Hammerson (LSE: HMSO.L) Highly commended: Aggregate Industries (LSE: AGG.L) ARM Holdings (LSE: ARM.L) Lifetime achievement in investor relations Winner: Peter Horsman Best investor relations officer - FTSE 100 Winner: Peter Hall & Fergus MacLeod - BP Highly commended: Fay Dodds & Stuart Ford - GUS Richard O'Connor - RBS Best investor relations officer - non-FTSE 100 Winner: Peregrine Riviere - The Carphone Warehouse Group Highly commended: John Denning - Carillion Chris Smith - Hammerson Mark Boyle - WH Smith Most progress in investor relations - FTSE 100 Winner: RBS (LSE: RBS.L) Highly commended: Land Securities Group (LSE: LAND.L) Royal Dutch/Shell Group (LSE: SHEL.L) Most progress in investor relations - non-FTSE 100 Winner: United Business Media (LSE: UBM.L) Highly commended: Cairn Energy (LSE: CNE.L) Matalan (LSE: MTN.L) Best annual report - FTSE 100 Winner: BP (LSE: BP.L) Highly commended: The British Land Company (LSE: BLND.L) HSBC Holdings (LSE: HSBA.L) Land Securities Group (LSE: LAND.L) Best annual report - non-FTSE 100 Winner: Pilkington (LSE: PLK.L) Highly commended: ARM Holdings (LSE: ARM.L) Hammerson (LSE: HMSO.L) Tomkins (LSE: TOMK.L) Best board communications Winner: Barclays (LSE: BARC.L) Highly commended: BG Group (LSE: BG.L) BHP Billiton (LSE: BLT.L) GUS (LSE: GUS.L) RBS (LSE: RBS.L) Best communication of shareholder value Winner: Barclays (LSE: BARC.L) Highly commended: BP (LSE: BP.L) O2 (LSE: OOM.L) Best corporate governance Winner: HSBC Holdings (LSE: HSBL.L) Highly commended: BP (LSE: BP.L) Standard Chartered (LSE: STAN.L) Best crisis management Winner: Royal Dutch/Shell Group (LSE: SHEL.L) Highly commended: AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN.L) Premier Foods (LSE: PFD.L) Best CSR practice Winner: Standard Chartered (LSE: STAN.L) Highly commended: BP (LSE: BP.L) Rio Tinto (LSE: RIO.L) Best disclosure practice Winner: HSBC Holdings (LSE: HSBA.L) Highly commended: Aviva (LSE: AV.L) BP (LSE: BP.L) Best financial media relations Winner: HBOS (LSE: HBOS.L) Highly commended: BP (LSE: BP.L) Cadbury Schweppes (LSE: CBRY.L) ICI (LSE: ICI.L) Reuters (LSE: RTR.L) Best investor relations by an Aim company Winner: Majestic Wine (LSE: MJW.L) Highly commended: ASOS (LSE: ASC.L) Medal Entertainment & Media (LSE: MME.L) Sportingbet (LSE: SBT.L) Best investor relations during a takeover Winner: Aggregate Industries (LSE: AGGB.L) Highly commended: BHP Billiton (LSE: BLT.L) Xstrata (LSE: XTA.L) Best investor relations for a new issue Winner: Premier Foods (LSE: PFD.L) Highly commended: Halfords Group (LSE: HFD.L) Virgin Mobile Holdings (UK)(LSE: VMOB.L) Best investor relations to the retail shareholder Winner: BP (LSE: BP.L) Highly commended: BT Group (LSE: BT.L) RBS (LSE: RBS.L) Best investor relations web site - FTSE 100 Winner: BHP Billiton (LSE: BLT.L) Highly commended: BP (LSE: BP.L) GUS (LSE: GSK.L) Best investor relations web site - non-FTSE 100 Winner: GKN (LSE: GKN.L) Highly commended: Cairn Energy (LSE: CNE.L) Hammerson (LSE: HMSO.L) Best North American company investor relations in the UK market Winner: Colgate-Palmolive (LSE: CLG.L) Highly commended: First Calgary Petroleums (LSE: FPL.L) The Procter & Gamble Company (LSE: PGM.L) Best results meetings and analyst briefings Winner: BHP Billiton (LSE: BLT.L) Highly commended: Barclays (LSE: BARC.L) BP (LSE: BP.L) Best UK company investor relations in the US market Winner: BP (LSE: BP.L) Highly commended: GlaxoSmithKline (LSE: GSK.L) Vodafone Group (LSE: VOD.L) Best use of the internet Winner: Reuters (LSE: RTR.L) Highly commended: AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN.L) BP (LSE: BP.L) RBS (LSE: RBS.L) Best use of virtual conferencing Winner: Unilever (LSE: ULVR.L) Highly commended: BHP Billiton (LSE: BLT.L) Reuters (LSE: RTR.L) Best investor relations by sector Aerospace & defence: BAE Systems (LSE: BA.L) Automobiles & parts: GKN (LSE: GKN.L) Banks & other finance: RBS (LSE: RBS.L) Chemicals: ICI (LSE: ICI.L) Construction & materials: Wolseley (LSE: WOS.L) Engineering & machinery: Tomkins (LSE: TOMK.L) Food producers & processors: Cadbury Schweppes (LSE: CBRY.L) General retailers: GUS (LSE: GUS.L) Pharmaceuticals & biotech: GlaxoSmithKline (LSE: GSK.L) IT hardware: ARM Holdings (LSE: ARM.L) Insurance & life assurance: Aviva (LSE: AV.L) Leisure & hotels: InterContinental Hotels Group (LSE: IHG.L) Media & entertainment: Reuters (LSE: RTR.L) Mining: BHP Billiton (LSE: BLT.L) Oil & gas: BP (LSE: BP.L) Real estate: Land Securities Group (LSE: LAND.L) Software & computer services: The Sage Group (LSE: SGE.L) Support services: Serco Group (LSE: SRP.L) Telecommunications: O2 (LSE: OOM.L) Transport: British Airways (LSE: BAY.L) Utilities & electricity: Scottish & Southern Energy (LSE: SSE.L) About IR Magazine & Awards Published in New York and London by Cross-Border Publishing, IR magazine is the only global publication focused on the interface between companies and their investors. IR magazine has hosted annual awards ceremonies in the US, the UK, continental Europe and Canada since 1991, with a combined attendance of more than 6,000 investor relations professionals. For more information, go to www.irawards.com. Contact: Cross-Border Publishing Claire Hunte, Communications director +44-20-7612-0793 claire@irmag.com _____ June 29, 2005 Source: IR Magazine & Awards From the Asia Corporate News Network View <http://www.asiacorpnet.com/company_show.asp?compid=28502> IR Magazine & Awards's company profile on ACN Network http://www.asiacorpnet.com Topic: Awards received Sectors: Biotech, Communications General, Consumers General, Energy General, Environment General, Health & Pharm General, Manufacturing General, Trade & Commerce General, Auto General, Chem General, IT General Copyright © 2005 ACN Network <http://www.asiacorpnet.com> . A division of Asia Corporate News Network. All rights reserved. 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