German, French and Spanish firms win awards for best overall IR and best individual IROs
A trio of companies – Infineon Technologies, Technip Energies and eDreams ODIGEO – won awards for best overall IR and best individual IROs in their respective cap sizes at this year’s IR Impact Awards – Europe.
German semiconductor manufacturer Infineon retained both awards from 2025, with Alexander Foltin, head of IR and group treasurer, and Daniel Györy, investor relations team lead, once again sharing the title of best investor relations officer (large cap).
Spanish travel company eDreams ODIGEO’s director of investor relations David de la Roz Fernandez also held onto the title of best investor relations officer (small cap) from last year, as well as the trophy for best overall investor relations (small cap).
But French engineering and technology group Technip Energies was a new winner in its categories, after it was recognized for the best overall investor relations (mid-cap) and Phillip Lindsay, vice president of IR, was named best investor relations officer (mid-cap).
Those three companies and many others across 31 categories were celebrated at a black-tie dinner at London’s Peninsula Hotel on 18 June, where hundreds of IROs gathered to toast the industry’s leading lights.
To read the full list of winners, click here.
Five other companies also scored a pair of awards on the night. Spanish bank BBVA won awards for best retail IR strategy and best sell-side management (large cap), while British engineering firm Smiths Group won best sell-side management (small to mid-cap) and best investor targeting strategy.
Meanwhile, multinational consumer goods maker Unilever took home trophies for best IR website (large cap) and best CEO communications; mobility solutions provider ZIGUP was recognized for best IR website (mid cap) and best use of technology including AI; and kitchen and bathroom products maker Norcros won best IR website (small cap) and best annual report (small cap).
Two categories were awarded to IR teams who have gone above and beyond to deliver strategic impact for their organizations: the best IR impact (large cap) trophy was taken home by Spanish utility Iberdrola, while the award for the best IR impact (small to mid-cap) was given to Kazakhstani flight carrier Air Astana.
The night’s awards came in two distinct types – researched and nominated – each celebrating the success of those individuals and companies that are leading the way in IR across Europe.
For our researched categories, companies do not submit nominations. Instead, hundreds of analysts and investors cast their votes and give their opinions on which companies provide the best IR service.
In our nominated categories, companies submit written entries to articulate their success and achievements from the past year, giving any publicly listed company the opportunity to be considered for an award. The winners of those categories are hand-picked by our panel of judges, who include representatives from the buy side, sell side and IR veterans.
This year’s judging panel comprised:
- Lorna Davie, president, Swiss IR Club
- Heinrich Ey, director, Co-CIO German and European mid/small caps, Allianz Global Investors
- Simon Gleadhill, head of corporate, ESG and IFRS reporting, Howden Joinery Group
- Stefanie Mollin, industry analyst, Bloomberg Intelligence
- Gervais Williams, head of equities, Premier Miton Investors
- Stephen Yiu, managing partner and chief investment officer, Blue Whale Growth Fund
- Laurie Havelock, editor, IR Impact.
For the full details of the awards process, visit the awards microsite here.
