CORPORATEGOVERNANCEPOLL
Asia’snewkingsofclarity
Ayearofmarketvolatilityhadamajorimpactontheperceptionofcorporate
governancestandardsamongAsia’scompanies.Somebusinessesshowedmarked
improvementinAsiamoney’sCorporateGovernancePoll,whileothersfellaway.
BerniceLamreports.
M
Maintainingcorporategovernancestandardsisaconstantchal- therighttoneatthetop,followingthissteadfastlyintough
lenge,especiallyamidtaxingmarketconditions. moments,”hetellsAsiamoney.“Asaresult,externalstakeholders
Giventhefactthatthepast12monthshavecontainedsome perceiveusasawellgovernedcompany.Wearefortunatethat
ofthegreatestfinancialturbulenceinfinancialhistory,investors ourmessagehasresonatedwithallexternalstakeholders.”
werebothcautiousandskepticalofcompanyperformance. AsimilarattitudeisconveyedbyChinaResourcesEnterprise
Thatmadeitaparticularlyessentialtimeforcompaniesto (CRE),whichwasvotedthirdoverallandstealsthetopspotlight
demonstratetheircommitmenttoengagingwithinvestorsand fromSunHungKaiProperties(SHKP)toheadthecompany
analystsalike. rankingsforHongKong.
AsAsiamoney’s2009CorporateGovernancePollreveals, CREhasimpressedwithitsgrowthplans,whichinclude
somecompanieshavedoneamuchjobofmaintainingcorporate expandingintointernationalhypermarket.Corporategover-
clarityduringthesetoughtimesthanothers. nanceshouldbeaninteractiveandtwo-wayprocess.Inan
Wereceived104responsesfromseniorexecutivesandC-level emailedresponse,aCREspokespersonsaysthat“goodcorporate
offundmanagementandhedgefundfirmsinAsia-Pacific,the governanceisessentialtoprovidingtransparency,accountability
UKandtheUS,aswellasheadsofresearchandsenioranalysts andcommitmenttostakeholders,butalsoallow[us]to
inbrokeragesacrosstheregion. exchangeourviewstocompany’sbusinesseswhichwillultimate
Thesevoterscitedatotalof260companiesinthepollthis createmorevaluetothecompany”.
year.Ofparticularnotewasthemarkedincreaseinsupportersof Meanwhile,aftertoppingtheresultsforHongKongoversev-
Indiancompanies,whilstthenumberofvotessubmittedfor eralyearsandfrequentlycomingfirstacrosstheregion,Sun
HongKonghasdeclined. HungKaiPropertiesfelltosecondpositioninHongKongand
wasnowheretobeseenintheoverallregionalresult.
MEDIATEK’SINVESTORENGAGEMENT ItisamarkedslipforHongKong’slargestpropertydeveloper,
Thestand-outcompanyforcorporategovernancethisyearis especiallygiventheconsistentsupportithadenjoyedoversever-
MediaTek.Taiwan’sleadingfablesssemiconductorcompanywas alyears.
abletorecoverfromthemarket’sdownfall,andpickedupthe
regionalaccoladeaswellasbeingvotedtopinitshomenation. ACROSSTHEREGION
“OnethingexceptionalaboutMediaTekwas,duringthe ElsewhereinAsiabrandedsportswearenterpriseANTAclaims
troughofthefourthquarterof2008andthefirstquarterof topspotforChina,whileIndonesia’sheavyequipmentcompany
2009,whenmanycompanieskeptquietbeforeinvestors, UnitedTractorsheadsthestakeinitscountry.
MediaTek’stopmanagementreachedouttovisitglobalinvestors SamsungElectronicsremainstopforKorea,asdoesits
innon-dealroadshows,theMediaTekAnalystDay,andsell-side investorrelationsofficer,RobertYi,whileMalaysia’sdomestic
conferences,”saysSophiaLiangofMediaTek,whowasawarded bankPublicBanktakeshonorsagain.InthePhilippinesAyala
thebestTaiwaninvestorrelationsofficer.“Wepresentedthe
Corp.sharesthelimelightwithPLDT,whileSingapore’sreal
company’sstrategyandexecutionplanstoboosttheconfidence estatecompanyCapitaLandisfirstoverallinthecitystate.
oflong-terminvestors,andthenwedeliveredwhatwasprom- ForThailand,theship-ownerPreciousShippingmanagesa
isedthroughouttheyear.” steadyclimbandpocketsthetitlefromKasikornbank,together
TheIndiantechnologyoutsourcingfirmMindTreewasalsoa withKhalidMHashimofPreciousbeingvotedasthebest
majorfavouriteamongvotersthisyear.Itcamesecondinthe investorrelationsofficer.
regionafterMediaTekandwasawardedfirstplaceinIndia Globalisationhasreshapedthethinkingandcultureofcom-
acrossallcategories. paniestowardscorporategovernanceasmanycompaniesseekto
Itisamarkedimprovementonitsthird-placerankingin2008 increasetheirpublicprofiles.Thelastyearhasunderlinedjust
poll. howvitalcorporategovernanceistothesmoothfunctioningofa
MindTree’sRostowRavanan,whowasvotedthebestinvestor company,andhowthelackofitcandamageabusinessesmarket
relationsofficeinIndia,ispleasedwiththeresults.Henotesthat perceptionandevenfinancialperformance.
itsenlightenedapproachtoinformationdisclosurehelpsitto AsAsiamoneycontinuestomonitorthecorporategovernance
buffitsreputationwhenitispitchingforbusinesseswithsome capabilitiesoftheregion’scompanies,expecttoseesomeforget
oftheworld’sleadingcorporations. theselessons,evenasothersincreasinglyseethemeritofkeep-
“Wehaveworkedhardonputtingtheenablinginfrastruc- inganopendialoguewiththepeoplethatbuytheirsharesand
ture,suchascreatingthepolicies,creatingtheculture,setting evaluatetheirprospects.
62 DEC2009/JAN2010 ASIAMONEY
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