OREANDA-NEWS.  Qatar Stock Exchange announced the results of the 2015 Investor Relations Excellence Program at a special event held in Doha last night. The IR Excellence Program is designed to recognize listed companies and individuals who display best practice in investor relations. Developed and executed by Iridium Investor Relations, an independent advisory firm, the 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

for excellence in Investor Relations:                        QNB

 

Best large cap company:                                        QNB

Best mid cap company:                                          Doha Bank

Best small cap company:                                        Mazaya Real Estate

 

Best Chief Financial Officer:                                    Mr. Ramzi Mari (QNB)

Best Investor Relations Officer:                               Mr. Andreas Goldau (Ooredoo)

 

Best investor relations website:                              (1) Ooredoo,

                                                                            (2) Al Khaliji Commercial Bank

                                                                            (3) Vodafone Qatar 

“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,” said Rashid Al-Mansoori, Chief Executive Officer of Qatar Stock Exchange. “Companies that adopt international standards in transparency and investor relations directly support this objective. 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.” 

The Investor Relations Excellence Program was benchmarked globally 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 advance notice to adjust their investor relations efforts. The program was not available for sponsorship to avoid any conflict of interest.

Oliver Schutzmann, CEO of Iridium Investor Relations said: “We witnessed a number of companies that upgraded their investor relations efforts as a direct result of the Investor Relations excellence program. This is a great result that we believe will benefit all participants in the Qatar Stock Exchange.”

The Investor Relations Excellence Program was announced in April 2015, the evaluation began in August and it was concluded in December.

Abdul Aziz Al Emadi, Director, Listing Department of QSE, said: “I was impressed by the overall standard of investor relations of Qatari companies and congratulate the winners. We look forward to ever greater levels of competition for the top spots in the years to come.”