German companies – led by BASF – pull out in front for the awards event taking place on June 30 in London
BASF is once again leading Europe’s investor relations field after it picked up the most nominations for the IR Magazine Europe Awards 2011.
The German chemicals company has secured 10 nominations, including for best overall IR in the large-cap category and best IRO for Magdalena Moll. That’s a rise from the eight nominations BASF received last year, when it walked away with the grand prix for best overall IR.
The winners will be announced on June 30 at the London Hilton on Park Lane.
The nominees and winners were determined by a rigorous, independent survey of more than 700 institutional investors and analysts conducted by XbInsight, IR magazine’s research arm.
BASF’s strong performance helped make Germany the country with the most nominations: German companies garnered 41 this year, beating the 37 nominations claimed by UK issuers.
The number of nominations for Spanish and Portuguese companies has fallen year on year, which may be a result of the sovereign debt problems affecting those two countries.
Banks, on the other hand, have performed well following a dismal 2010 when the highest-ranked bank reached only 29th place out of the top 100 companies in Europe. This time round, the banking sector has made it into the top 10 and, overall, 15 banks have made it into the top 100.
‘The market may have changed over the past year, but IR leadership has not. It comes as little surprise that there are many familiar names in this year’s short lists,’ comments Janet Dignan, CEO of Cross Border, the publisher of IR magazine.
‘Nothing is more important than effective investor communication during periods of volatility and it’s already clear investors and analysts are rewarding this. It will be interesting to see how this factor influences the final list of winners.’
Click here for the full list of nominations for the IR Magazine Europe Awards 2011.
Click here to learn more about XbInsight.
