Qatar Stock Exchange Announces Winners of 2nd Annual IR Excellence Program Awards

 

February 07, 2017

 

Qatar Stock Exchange announced the winners of the 2016 IR Excellence Program at the 2nd Annual IR Excellence Program Awards ceremony held in the Four Seasons Hotel on February 6th, 2017. 
Developed and executed by Iridium, the Investor Relations (IR) Program surveyed the expert opinion of the domestic and international investment community. The program also featured a detailed ranking of corporate investor relations websites. The winners were announced as follows:

Best Qatari company overall:           Ooredoo
Best large cap company:                  Qatar National Bank (QNB)
Best mid cap company:                    Commercial Bank of Qatar (CBQ)
Best small cap company:                 Salam International
Best Chief Financial Officer:           Mr. Ramzi Mari of Qatar National Bank (QNB)
Best Investor Relations Officer:       Mr. Mohammed Al Namla of Qatar National Bank (QNB)
Best investor relations website:       (1) Ooredoo,
                                                         (2) Al Khaliji Bank
                                                         (3) Mannai Corp

Mr. Rashid Bin Ali Al-Mansoori, CEO of Qatar Stock Exchange, expressed satisfaction of the advanced IR level achieved by Qatari listed companies and said: “For the second year running, we have rewarded companies and individuals that have demonstrated the highest investor relations standards in the country.”
“The IR Excellence Program reflects Qatar Stock Exchange desire to achieve best international practice among our listed companies for a transparent investment environment. We want to see our listed companies committed to improving the flow of information in the market, because they are the corporate ambassadors for Qatar.  These efforts are aligned to the Qatar National Vision 2030 and diversification plans of the national economy. This recognition is one of the most significant programs in the region rewarding listed corporates for their IR excellence," Mr. Al Mansoori added.
Oliver Schutzmann, CEO of Iridium Investor Relations said: “The QSE’s IR Excellence Program is a testament to the Exchange’s commitment towards achieving quality investor relations to improve market accessibility and support the development of successful capital markets. We would like to congratulate the Qatar Stock Exchange on their commitment to this initiative and the winners for raising the bar.”
Abdul Aziz Al Emadi, Director, Listing Department of QSE, said: “Qatar Stock Exchange has been actively promoting IR for a number of years but there has never been as much attention paid to the prospects of our listed companies since receiving emerging markets status and as we aspire to achieve developed market status.”
“We witnessed a good number of companies that upgraded their IR as a direct result of the Excellence Program. We look forward to seeing a stronger engagement from the remaining companies, in order to further improve the IR standards across all Qatar listed companies,” Al-Emadi added. 
The Excellence Program was launched in 2015. The Program is globally benchmarked against best practices to ensure a transparent methodology. The methodology and all ranking criteria were made public via the QSE’s website and other public channels. This enabled all listed companies to review categories and selection criteria, and gave them several months advance notice to improve their investor relations efforts. The IR Excellence Program is not available for sponsorship to avoid any conflicts of interest.
In 2016, the IR Excellence Program featured a new mobile digital tool for website rankings. The tool enables companies to see their 2015 website ranking broken down into technology, content and service, and the areas of improvement of their 2016 score. The 2016 Program was launched in September, the evaluation began in October and was concluded in December 2016.