His Highness Maktoum Hasher Al Maktoum Calls For Increased Transparency And Communication With Investors

Conference Addresses The Most Topical Issues For Corporates In Light Of The Financial Crisis

The 3rd Middle East Investor Relations Society Conference and Awards Ceremony took place this Monday at the Yas Island Hotel, Abu Dhabi.

The event brought together listed and unlisted firms, family offices, investors, analysts, advisors, participants of the buy and sell side communities and exchanges. Around 120 senior level delegates attended from the society’s different chapters including Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, and Jordan.

 

The morning conference consisted of speeches from His Highness Sheikh Maktoum Hasher Al Maktoum, - Chairman of SHUAA Capital; Paul Reynolds - Managing Director, Rothschild Bank & Chairman of ME-IR Society and Tim Fox - Chief Economist, ENBD, and three interactive and thought provoking panel discussions.

In his closing summary Paul Reynolds said: “The message from both local and international investors at the conference has been simple:  effective investor relations increases the value of a firm. Investors, as well as other financial stakeholders, discriminate in favour of companies who display behaviour consistent with this truth. This is why the region’s great companies invest in their IR functions, why they win the wars for talent and capital, and why they win awards that recognise not only their IR excellence but also their contribution to enhancing the reputation of the Arab world.”

The conference agreed that the trading and economic outlook for the region was positive notwithstanding the current global headwinds. However,  to revitalise the region’s equity markets - beyond relevant regulatory reform and continuing the hard work of institutionalisation – the capital markets of the Middle East need more great companies to list.

The afternoon Awards ceremony, presented by Brandy Scott of Dubai Eye announced which Middle East companies had adopted the highest standards of IR. The winners were voted for by 261 individuals from 132 buy-side and sell-side organisations in the Middle East, the US, UK and Continental Europe in an independent IR survey by Thomson Reuters. The winners were;

Best Investor Relations by CFO in the Middle East - Georges Schorderet, Al Marai
Best Investor Relations Website for the Middle East - Qatar Telecom (Qtel)
Best Investor Relations Team for Corporate Governance in the Middle East - DP World
Best Investor Relations Team for Crisis Communication in the Middle East - Emirates NBD
Best Investor Relations Team for Corporate Access in the Middle East - DP World
Best Company for Investor Relations for Bahrain - Bahrain Telecommunications Co (BATELCO)
Best Company for Investor Relations for Saudi Arabia - Almarai
Best Company for Investor Relations for Egypt - Orascom Construction Industries (OCI)
Best Company for Investor Relations for Kuwait- National Bank of Kuwait (NBK)
Best Company for Investor Relations for Oman - Bank Muscat
Best Company for Investor Relations for Qatar - Qatar Telecom (Qtel)
Best Company for Investor Relations for the Levant (Lebanon, Syria, Jordan) - Bank Audi
Best Company for Investor Relations for the UAE - DP World
The ‘Grand Prix’ of the Awards, for the Best Company for Investor Relations in the Middle East also went to Al Marai.

Steve Kelly of Thomson Reuters commented that the survey revealed that ”direct meetings with senior management are the fulcrum for investors and analysts in defining their investment stance for a stock. There is greater recognition that, allied to the natural trust and honesty in the region, fully engaging with investors enables companies to present themselves more favorably.”

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