The vibrancy of the Nordic investor relations scene was celebrated on May 22 at the third annual IR Magazine Nordic Awards. The event followed the fifth Nordic investor relations conference, which was hosted this year by the Danish IR association, Dansk Investor Relations Forening. And, despite a tough market, a jubilant crowd of 300 cheered on the winners from Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Iceland.
The star of the evening, as in previous years, was Nokia, picking up five awards including the coveted grand prix for best overall investor relations. Antti Raikkonen, Nokia’s IRO, modestly says, ‘I don’t know why we won; I suppose because enough people voted for us.’ He does, however, add that Nokia is very proud of winning, and views it as an indication that the company is definitely getting its IR practice right. ‘If you look back over the years, investor relations at Nokia has always had its own role and has always been considered important,’ Raikkonen says. ‘These awards confirm to us that we’re on the right track.’
Raikkonen also won the award for best IRO at a Finnish company. He’s not complacent about his success, however, and insists that with the investment environment constantly changing, it’s crucial to keep developing as an IRO. ‘There are continually new investors, analysts and brokers out there, so it’s important to seek out the best ways to serve them,’ he says. What is also important for a successful IRO, according to Raikkonen, is having a thorough and current knowledge of the business you represent. ‘The key challenges,’ he says, ‘are to always know what’s going on and keep yourself updated.’
Raikkonen emphasizes that Nokia plans to keep developing its IR department, focusing particularly on its use of the internet. ‘The web is a good way to provide basic information to the investment community – information that is easily available and easily updated,’ he comments. ‘That is something the IR function at Nokia has recently been putting a lot of resources into. We’re trying to discover how to use the web more efficiently than before.’
Follow the leader
While Nokia was flying the flag for Finland, it had a stream of other Finnish companies in its wake. In fact Finnish companies won every award open to them including best IR by a CEO and best investment community meetings – both won by UPM Kymmene – and most progress in IR, which was picked up by Elcoteq Network.
Osmo Kammonen, senior VP of communications and IR at Elcoteq, puts the company’s success down to ‘always responding yes to meeting requests if possible, and always trying to be available for quick questions and conversations via phone or e-mail.’
Other Finnish winners included YIT Group, which took home the award for best IR by a Finnish small cap two years in a row. ‘Winning the IR award for the second time gives us a reliable benchmark,’ says Veikko Myllyperkio, YIT’s vice president of corporate communications. ‘The award gives us new spirit to improve our efforts to serve our shareholders and the investment community. However, the most important benefit we get from the IR Magazine Awards is in the professional opinions the survey participants make about the nominated companies. We can learn from our competitors.’
Finnish companies also won the awards for best corporate literature and best crisis management, granted to Stora Enso and Perlos, respectively.
‘This is the first time we have won an award for IR, so we highly appreciate it,’ says Jari Laaninen, director of group treasury and IR at Perlos. ‘Our history as a listed company only goes back to 1999, so we’re still on a learning curve,’ he continues. ‘Although we don’t have anyone working 100 percent on IR, we still feel we have been successful in meeting the needs of investors and analysts. Looking at the winners of the IR Magazine Awards, I have to say that Finnish companies have taken major steps forward.’
Despite the many successes of Finnish companies, Sweden was voted as the country with the best overall IR – for the third year running. But Sweden’s 61 percent support was down from last year’s 80 percent while Finland gained votes.
Sweden’s award-winners included SCA, with the awards for best investor relations officer at a Swedish company – awarded to Peter Nyquist – and best investor relations at a large or mid-cap Swedish company, and Gambro, which got the award for best investor relations by a Swedish small cap.
‘Gambro is a very decisive company, and that helps the IR function be responsive and accurate in its communication,’ comments Pia Irell, Gambro’s director of IR. However, Irell acknowledges there is always room for improvement: ‘I see the function as far from perfect, and that makes the job interesting and challenging,’ she adds.
Best of the rest
Despite the fact that the two heavyweights in the region are clearly Finland and Sweden, the other Nordic countries had their moments of glory, too. The Norwegian winners were Ekornes for small-cap Norwegian IR and Norske Skog for best Norwegian IRO and best IR by a large or mid-cap Norwegian company.
Jarle Langfjaeran, Norske Skog’s winning investor relations officer, puts his company’s success down to ‘continuous improvement in investor relations.’ He also adds, ‘With capital markets continuing to be more international, investors around the world prefer to invest in companies that have a good track record of information. That’s why awards such as these are useful.’
Denmark’s big winner was Novo Nordisk, which got the awards for best IR by a large or mid-cap Danish company and best Danish IRO, which was awarded to both Peter Haahr and Palle Holm Olesen. ‘These awards confirm the good reputation and image of Novo Nordisk as being an open and honest company,’ says Haahr. ‘We see them as a pat on the back for all the hard work we’ve done over the past year.’
Danske Traelast was another Danish winner, collecting the award for best IR by a small-cap Danish company. ‘IR is getting more and more important in the Nordic area,’ comments Ole Mikael Jensen, group VP for investor relations, communications and business development. ‘Unfortunately there is a tendency for media and investors to focus on the few biggest shares, forgetting all the mid and small caps. Hopefully things such as the IR Magazine Awards for smaller companies will help us gain momentum.’
Iceland was included in the nominations for the second year. Opin kerfi won the award for best IR by an Icelandic small cap while Ossur won the award for large and mid-cap IR. Hjorleifur Palsson, CFO of Ossur, quoted Britney Spears as he collected his company’s trophy: ‘Oops, we did it again.’ Indeed, this year’s Icelandic results confirm those of 2002.
Palsson cites Ossur’s ‘attitude and ambition to serve our investors in the best possible way at all times’ as the reasons behind its success. He adds that the company is ‘constantly striving for improvements,’ and emphasizes, ‘Achievement is a journey, not a destination.’
Setting a benchmark
The IR Magazine Nordic Awards were the culmination of months of research by Mary Maude Research, which interviewed 205 sell-side analysts, buy-side analysts and portfolio managers to identify the best in Nordic IR. For some companies in the region, particularly small and mid caps, investor relations is still at an early stage. These winners, however, have been showing off sophisticated and well-developed IR programs.
As Novo Nordisk’s Haahr says, ‘The investor relations scene in the Nordic region is a fragmented picture – ranging from top of the pops to very poor. But if you look at tier one, the companies here are clearly able to match their European colleagues.’
The results of the awards survey show many successful companies in Haahr’s tier one; now all that’s needed is for the rest of the companies in the region to join them.
Click here to see the winners
The Nordic Research Report 2003, with verbatim comments about all the nominated companies from fund managers, buy-side analysts and sell-side analysts, is available for £180. Contact [email protected] or order online in the awards section at www.IRontheNet.com
