QNB takes top award at Qatar Stock Exchange IR Excellence Program event

The results of the Qatar Stock Exchange’s (QSE) IR Excellence Program were revealed last night, with QNB – the country’s national bank – coming away with three awards.

As well as being named best overall for excellence in investor relations, the bank claimed the best large-cap company award and its CFO, Ramzi Mari, took home the best chief financial officer gong.

The mid-cap nod went to Doha Bank while Al Mazaya Real Estate won the small-cap category. Andreas Goldau from Ooredoo took the best investor relations officer award.

The IR Excellence Program, launched in April 2015, was developed and is executed by Iridium Investor Relations, which surveyed the domestic and international investment community as well as ranking corporate investor relations websites.

Three companies were named in the best IR website category, with the top spot going to Ooredoo, second place to Al Khaliji Commercial Bank and Vodafone Qatar coming third.

‘Our mandate is to support Qatar’s national economy by providing an exchange platform where investors can trade fairly and efficiently based on information that is essential to make intelligent investment decisions,’ says Rashid Al-Mansoori, chief executive of the QSE, in a press release.

‘The Investor Relations Excellence Program rewards companies that work hardest to support best practice in investor relations, and encourages all listed companies to aspire to follow their example.’

Oliver Schutzmann, CEO of Iridium Investor Relations, adds that the program also gives a boost to the Gulf state’s fledgling IR practice. ‘We witnessed a number of companies that upgraded their investor relations efforts as a direct result of the Investor Relations Excellence Program,’ he says in the press statement.