Standing tall in São Paulo

Last year, Belo Horizonte-headquartered educational company Kroton lost its top spot in the IR Magazine Brazil Top 30 to Itaú Unibanco. This year it snatched back the number one position and won six trophies at the awards event in São Paulo.

In a sweep of the top trophies, Kroton took home the coveted grand prix for best overall investor relations in the super-large-cap category (above R$20 bn), while head of IR Carlos Lazar claimed the best investor relations officer award among the super-large-cap contenders and chief executive Rodrigo Galindo won the gong for best IR by a CEO or CFO. 

Kroton also picked up awards for most progress in IR and best investor meetings in the large-cap category for companies over R$3 bn, as well as the best in sector trophy for consumer cyclicals.

Success continued for the education sector, with Anima taking the grand prix for best overall investor relations in the small & mid-cap category (below R$3 bn), plus a slew of other prizes. Anima’s head of IR, Leonardo Haddad, claimed the accolade for best investor relations officer, while the company won further awards for best investor meetings and most progress in IR, all of these in the small & mid-cap category.

Taking into consideration that the education sector has been experiencing extremely challenging times since the end of December 2014, when the Brazilian Federal Government changed the rules relating to the educational financing program FIES, Kroton and Anima are indeed worthy winners. Analysts recognized their transparency, agility and availability for dialogue.

The other grand prix award – in the large-cap category (between R$3 bn and R$20 bn) – went to car rental company Localiza, which was also ranked fifth in the IR Magazine Brazil Top 30.

Stepping up

It is worth highlighting the companies that have been nominated in past years and were winners this year, such as Lojas Renner and EZTEC. Both companies are top picks among sell-side analysts and are benchmarks in their respective industries of retail and real estate. 

Lojas Renner also received the award for best corporate governance, which is a great recognition for the first – and one of the few – true corporations in Brazil, meaning a company that has no controlling shareholder. This fact was highlighted in the speech by Laurence Gomes, CFO and IRO of the company. 

EZTEC’s Antonio Fugazza, meanwhile, won best IRO for a large-cap company, in a tough year for the real estate market that was heavily affected by Brazil’s financial crisis.

New entrants for this year’s sector awards include WEG and Duratex. WEG, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of electric motors and equipment, claimed best IR for the capital goods sector. Along with Lojas Renner, the company saw one of the best performances in the stock market over the last 12 months, and was also recognized as Company of the Year by one of most important business publications in the country, Exame. Duratex, a leading player in the Brazilian building and furniture industry, picked up best IR for the basic materials sector. 

Itaú Unibanco, Brazil’s largest financial conglomerate, was again a big winner, receiving three awards. And Natura, Brazil’s top cosmetics, fragrance and toiletries manufacturer, took home two. Both Itaú and Natura are long-time award winners that have kept up with best practices over the years and have continued to be recognized on a regular basis by the financial community.

Other winners on the night included BRH, Odontoprev and Ultrapar. All the nominees and winners are companies that know how to tell their stories, are credible and valued. It is not an easy task, especially in the Brazil of 2015, so they deserve all the recognition they have received. 

IR MAGAZINE BRAZIL TOP 10  

The full list of this year’s Brazil Top 30 is available in the Portuguese-language Investor Perception Study – Brazil 2015. To order your copy, please contact Andrea Pion at +1 212 430 6895 or [email protected].