A packed ballroom of European IR professionals in London erupted in cheers and applause for all the outstanding nominees in the running for the IR Magazine Awards – Europe 2023 last night. But there could be only one winner per category.
Novo Nordisk, the $279 bn Danish multinational pharmaceutical company, was presented with the best overall investor relations (large cap) award, repeating its triumph from 2021. Fellow Scandinavian Fredrik Berge, of Norwegian renewable energy infrastructure engineers Aker Solutions, was handed the award for best investor relations officer (mid-cap) while Klaus Sindahl of Sweden’s Hansa Biopharma took home the rising star award.
Spanish IR excellence was recognized when Banco Santander, the €53 bn ($58 bn) financial services giant, won trophies for best use of multimedia for IR and best annual report (large cap). Barcelona-based online travel company eDreams ODIGEO took home the awards for best overall investor relations (small cap) and best investor relations officer (small cap) for David de la Roz Fernandez.
UK IROs and companies were especially triumphant on the night, however. Unilever, the £104 bn ($132 bn) multinational consumer goods titan, won the best investor event (large cap) award. Meanwhile, the international infrastructure group Balfour Beatty scooped the best annual report (mid-cap) trophy and Halfords, the UK’s largest motoring and cycling retailer, secured the best annual report (small cap) prize.
Click here to see the full list of winners at the IR Magazine Awards – Europe 2023.
A record number of entries were submitted and judges spent weeks scrutinizing submissions to come up with the short lists, the benchmark for sector-wide excellence across Europe. Companies from Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the UK were represented. The prizes were presented in person at a black-tie gala dinner and ceremony in London on June 22.
How the nominees are selected
IR Magazine presented two types of award categories: researched and nominated. Researched categories were decided by a survey of buy-side and sell-side analysts and portfolio managers, while nominated categories were decided by a panel of judges. This year, the panel of judges comprised:
- Mike Allen, head of research, Zeus Capital
- James Beech, editor-in-chief, IR Magazine
- Heinrich Ey, director and co-CIO for German and European mid/small caps, Allianz Global Investors
- Simon Gleadhill, corporate reporting & IFRS technical controller, Howden Joinery Group
- Madeleine Szeluch, investor relations ESG director, Novartis
- Gervais Williams, head of equities, Premier Miton Investors.
Earlier on the same day, the IR Magazine Think Tank – Europe was held in person at Bank of America’s offices in London. The invitation-only event was free to attend and exclusively for senior IR practitioners.
Keep visiting IRmagazine.com for ongoing coverage of the Europe Think Tank and Europe Awards 2023.
