12
4 IR MAgAzInE InVESTOR PERCEPTIOn STUDy EUROPE 20124 IR MAgAzInE InVESTOR PERCEPTIOn STUDy EUROPE 2012
Ir mAgAZINE Euro Top 100
Euro Top 100 rank Company Country
Awards
pointsCompany
profi le
2012 2011 2010 2012 vs 2011 (large caps in bold) 2012 2012 page no
1 17 =31 O Allianz Germany CCCC 540 22
2 1 1 T bASf Germany CCC 528 26
3 4 5 O unilever UK CCC 488 29
4 3 9 T Novo Nordisk Denmark CCC 451 31
5 75 43 O Kingfi sher UK C 403 33
6 2 3 T Nestlé switzerland CC 386 35
7 66 10 O Danone France C 370 37
8 7 18 T Novartis switzerland 348 38
9 6 19 T Lanxess Germany CCC 324 39
10 =85 74 O EDp – Energias de portugal Portugal CC 322 44
11 =324 62 O vodafone group UK C 319 48
12 =98 16 O f Hoffmann-La roche switzerland 295 49
13 33 6 O Sanofi France 288 50
14 5 2 T rwE Germany 279 50
15 14 27 T Iberdrola spain C 275 51
16 45 =29 O glaxoSmithKline UK 270 51
17 13 =165 T Carlsberg Denmark 269 52
18 19 24 O Santander spain C 262 52
19 =63 =66 O bayer Germany 253 53
20 81 53 O royal Dutch Shell UK C 251 54
21 =10 51 T Umicore Belgium C 248 55
=22 8 6 T E.oN Germany 246 55
=22 =205 108 O marks and Spencer group UK C 246 56
24 20 12 T randstad netherlands CC 242 57
25 22 72 T bmw group Germany C 240 58
26 =118 37 O ČEZ group Czech republic C 237 58
27 31 =96 O ASmL netherlands C 235 59
28 =88 =148 O rio Tinto UK C 209 59
29 =88 73 O munich re Germany 203 60
=30 =192 =406 O Arm Holdings UK 202 60
=30 =100 =231 O Continental Germany C 202 61
32 65 =163 O repsol spain 200 63
33 26 =46 T DSm netherlands 195 64
34 − − O Amadeus spain C 193 64
35 =53 =146 O telenet Belgium 191 65
36 =153 57 O SAbmiller UK 189 65
37 =43 23 O Henkel Germany C 188 66
38 =172 =104 O Anheuser-busch Inbev Belgium 187 66
39 32 25 T Xstrata UK C 184 67
40 =47 17 O K+S Germany 183 68
=41 =43 38 O Daimler Germany 182 69
=41 =85 =124 O Sampo Finland C 182 69
43 38 =79 T galp Energia Portugal 178 70O rank up T rank down – unranked C number of awards
5IR MAgAzInE InVESTOR PERCEPTIOn STUDy EUROPE 2012 5IR MAgAzInE InVESTOR PERCEPTIOn STUDy EUROPE 2012
Ir mAgAZINE Euro Top 100
Euro Top 100 rank Company Country
Awards
pointsCompany
profi le
2012 2011 2010 2012 vs 2011 (large caps in bold) 2012 2012 page no
=44 =51 109 O adidas Germany 177 70
=44 =145 36 O Arcelormittal netherlands 177 71
=44 39 15 T Land Securities group UK C 177 71
47 =40 68 T Novozymes Denmark 174 72
=48 =40 50 T Coloplast Denmark 169 72
=48 =66 428 O FLsmidth & Company Denmark 169 73
50 =104 =68 O Pirelli Italy C 168 73
51 =79 14 O yara International norway C 165 80
=52 =128 103 O pearson UK C 161 81
=52 =285 =178 O tate & Lyle UK C 161 81
=54 =100 83 O Intesa Sanpaolo Italy 160 83
=54 46 63 T Siemens Germany 160 84
56 69 =105 O pernod-ricard France 159 84
57 =98 =48 O Deutsche bank Germany 158 85
58 27 20 T Portugal telecom Portugal 156 85
59 =128 =60 O Syngenta switzerland 154 86
60 =104 97 O fiat Italy 153 86
61 =153 =115 O Aggreko UK 152 87
62 =73 22 O AXA France 151 87
=63 =10 7 T bg group UK 150 88
=63 78 28 O Diageo UK 150 88
65 =142 =212 O yIt Corporation Finland C 146 89
66 =82 34 O Jerónimo martins Portugal 145 89
67 =70 =158 O TeliaSonera sweden C 144 90
68 =106 =245 O EADS France C 143 90
69 42 35 T Deutsche Lufthansa Germany C 142 91
70 =35 8 T Telefónica spain 141 91
71 12 =124 T Tullow oil UK 140 92
72 =345 − O Arkema France 139 92
73 =29 =114 T INg group netherlands 137 93
=74 =161 =266 O H Lundbeck Denmark 135 93
=74 56 =193 T J Sainsbury UK 135 94
=74 9 =116 T Swedbank sweden 135 94
77 =123 =147 O bbvA spain 133 95
78 =130 =230 O William Hill UK 132 95
79 =186 =100 O DNb norway 131 96
80 =221 =215 O Derwent London UK 130 96
=81 15 4 T royal KpN netherlands 129 97
=81 =91 77 O SAp Germany 129 97
83 =29 =190 T Erste bank Austria C 127 98
=84 125 =55 O Credit Suisse switzerland 126 98
=84 50 21 T Zurich Insurance group switzerland 126 99
=86 =145 =266 O Johnson matthey UK 125 99O rank up T rank down – unranked C number of awards
6 IR MAgAzInE InVESTOR PERCEPTIOn STUDy EUROPE 2012
Ir mAgAZINE Euro Top 100
CoNTENTS
Editor: James Chambers | Chief copy editor: Kathleen Hennessy | Editorial assistants: Lorena
sanchez, Liu xiao | Contributors: tim Human, Alex Joliffe | Chief executive: Janet Dignan | research
manager: Lloyd Bevan | Art & design: Mariel Foulds | printed by: Premier Corporate Mail, Unit 11, the
I o Centre seymour street, royal Arsenal, London se18 6ss
the report
7 Sovereign debt Tim Human fi nds out how award-winning companies in the eurozone have been dealing with the debt crisis
9 Investor profi lesAlex Joliffe quizzes six different fund managers on investing in europe
12 researchIr Insight reveals its research on the signifi cance of the macroeconomy to Iros and the investment community
17 winners and short-listed companies 2012
Breakdown of this year’s awards
the rankings
21 Euro Top 100 Profi les of the highest-ranking companies in europe
45 market fresh Best investor relations for an IPo
112 The chasing packAward-winning companies outside the top 100
the research
118 Ir Insight research process – survey methodology– respondents – questionnaire
122 ranked companies’ points breakdown
133 Index of companies
Euro Top 100 rank Company Country
Awards
pointsCompany
profi le
2012 2011 2010 2012 vs 2011 (large caps in bold) 2012 2012 page no
=86 112 168 O voestalpine Austria 125 100
=88 =262 =123 O bHp billiton UK 121 100
=88 =182 54 O Telenor norway 121 101
90 − =432 O Abb switzerland C 120 101
=91 =82 =46 T Imtech netherlands 118 102
=91 24 69 T Kerry group Ireland C 118 102
=91 =47 =257 T Kone Finland 118 103
=94 =108 =58 O barclays UK 116 103
=94 =372 − O EDf group France 116 104
=94 =133 44 O france Télécom France 116 104
97 60 76 T Great Portland estates UK 115 105
98 =73 =56 T bNp paribas France 114 105
=99 =345 − O nokian tyres Finland 113 106
=99 =82 =136 T smurfi t Kappa Group Ireland C 113 106O rank up T rank down – unranked C number of awards
39IR MAgAzInE InVESTOR PERCEPTIOn STUDy EUROPE 2012
Euro Top 100
9 LanxesspAN-EuropEAN wINNEr (see below)
Listing information
Mid-capFrankfurt stock exchangeChemicals/speciality chemicals
ceo Dr Axel Heitmann
cFo Dr Bernhard Düttmann
Head of ir oliver stratmann
ir team Constantin Fest, Joachim Kunz, tanja satzer, verena simiot, Ulrike Weihs, Dirk Winkels
ir team size seven
Award-winning ir
Grand prix for best overall investor relations – mid-capBest investor relations officer – small & mid-capBest investor relations by a Ceo – small & mid-capshort-listed for best in country – Germanyshort listed for best in sector – chemicals/speciality chemicals
contact information www.lanxess.com [email protected] +49 214 30 49611
euro top 100 ranking 2012: 9 2011: 6 2010: 19
three-year average 11
Investor/analyst feedback
‘there are three or four people in the investor relations department at Lanxess, and each one can be relied upon to respond’ – sell side, UK
‘During the acquisition of DsM elastomers, Lanxess did an excellent job of disclosing the facts and pricing around the deal’ – buy side, Germany
‘Joachim Kunz, one of the Ir team responsible for institutional investors, really partners you by providing information and keeping track of your estimates and ideas. An excellent service and good access to management’ – buy side, Germany
‘Lanxess holds really well-organised events, has good, clear communications, and is quick to react to requests’ – buy side, Germany
‘Lanxess keeps us informed whenever the price increases or decreases’ – buy side, netherlands
‘the Ceo of Lanxess has strong views on the future of the business and can debate in detail about turning the business round from the ugly duckling to the crown jewel’ – sell side, Germany
Lanxess has completed a trilogy of wins in the top award categories this year, a feat unmatched by any of its European peers in either the small or large-cap categories. The german rubber and chemicals business,
spun out of Bayer in 2004 and listed in 2005, is also the highest-ranked mid-cap company for the second year running. Such is its dominance of the mid-cap IR space that the biggest threat to future success may come from the growth stock’s expanding market capitalisation: at just under €5 bn, the company is brushing the ceiling of the mid-cap category band for 2012.
grand prix for best overall investor relations – mid-cap
Elsewhere, though, the increasing market cap size is having a purely positive impact for the IR department. In 2006 the IR team went on a trial roadshow to Asia. Back then, the message from investors was essentially: interesting story but too small – come back when you have a bigger market cap. On more recent roadshows to Hong Kong and Singa-pore, however, the investor feedback has been more receptive, according to head of IR
40 IR MAgAzInE InVESTOR PERCEPTIOn STUDy EUROPE 2012
Euro Top 100
bond in Hong Kong. The roadshow for the ¥500 mn corporate bond was a team effort involving the CFO, the treasurer and the head of IR – a ‘winning combination’ forged on much larger eurobond offerings, says Stratmann, although the head of IR and his team will be the ones taking principal responsibility for fixed income investors on a day-to-day basis. ‘IR to me is not equity IR only,’ he points out. ‘It is capital markets IR.’
The Lanxess investor base is the most international of the top 10 ranked European IR companies this year. Most investors come from outside Europe, with the largest chunk located in the US. American investors account for about 35 percent of the shares and have been a significant presence on the share register since spin-off. Accordingly, management and IR visit the East Coast once a quarter and Stratmann has plans to use increased resources to push further inland (see page 43). What’s more, the company from Leverkusen will, for the first time, hold a capital markets day in new york.
There are no plans to visit Latin America as yet, however. Countries like Brazil remain a blank piece of paper for the Lanxess IR team, says Stratmann, so much so that he doubts there is a broker covering Lanxess that would even offer a roadshow to the region.
Meeting the needs of international investors can, of course, mean extra work for the IR team. This is particularly true for European companies at the moment, many of which are expected to educate nervy foreign investors about the political and economic situation in the eurozone. ‘I’m just coming back from roadshows – it’s a big topic,’ confirms Heitmann. US investors are particularly hungry for news about the latest developments in the eurozone, according to Lanxess, an obser-vation echoed by other globetrotting companies, such as Allianz.
Interestingly, Lanxess and Allianz, both german companies, both with high-scoring IR programs, take separate approaches to tackling the issue. While Allianz will hold meetings on the eurozone, sometimes never even mentioning the company, Lanxess strives to steer investors away from this macroeconomic topic and return focus to the fundamentals of the company. ‘We comment strictly on our own performance; this is what we give priority to,’ says Heitmann.
As the eurozone crisis shows little sign of abating, some respite for Lanxess may come from regional shifts in its heavily internationalised investor base. In a subtle sign that the investor profile may be swinging toward Europe, the number of US investors dropped between year-end 2010 and year-end 2011 while the European investor base outside of germany and the UK doubled in size. During the same period, german holdings remained stable at just over a quarter of the investor base.
Behind these figures, the Lanxess investor relations program has been increasing the number of roadshows it conducts in European cities like Paris, Amsterdam and zurich. Scandinavia is firmly on the IR radar for the future. ‘When we visited in 2005, we had more optimistic, more entrepreneurial investors coming out of the US,’ recalls Heitmann. ‘Over the years the value offering of Lanxess has been more and more recognised by our European shareholders.’
LanxessGermany
UmicoreBelgium
Derwent LondonUK
RandstadNetherlands
TelenetBelgium
EdenredFrance
FLSmidth & CompanyDenmark
ArkemaFrance
PirelliItaly
Christian HansenDenmark
H LundbeckDenmark
ImtechNetherlands
William HillUK
YIT CorporationFinland
32
30
30
29
28
27
27
27
27
25
32
33
45
63
Grand prix for best overall investor relations – mid-cap
Oliver Stratmann. CEO Dr Axel Heitmann spent three years living in China and is particularly fond of meeting investors in the East. Still, Asian investors require consis-tency, notes Stratmann, so it will take a few more Asian roadshows before the region buys into the stock in any meaningful way.
general awareness of Lanxess will, no doubt, be assisted by its debut in the Asian debt markets earlier this year, when the company issued a renminbi-denominated
European invest
ors
29Sell-sideanalystsInstitutional investo
rs
38%
89%
41IR MAgAzInE InVESTOR PERCEPTIOn STUDy EUROPE 2012
Euro Top 100
Dr Axel Heitmann is in high spirits on the afternoon of the 2012 Lanxess AgM. The annual meeting of shareholders has ended earlier than expected, freeing up the chief executive to talk fondly about the day’s
proceedings. ‘To be frank, this was our eighth AgM and it was good fun,’ declares Heitmann.
His bonhomie must be the envy of some of his peers at other European companies, stalked by razor-edge votes on executive compensation and the general gloom of the sovereign debt crisis. Occasionally retail shareholders will raise the issue of executive pay at the AgM, admits Heitmann. He also discusses the issue with institutional investors throughout the year. On each occasion, however, he can reassure them about his signifi cant proportion of performance-linked pay. ‘Lanxess management has a lot of skin in the game and I like to talk about that,’ he says.
Heitmann also likes to talk to investors about the ‘huge number’ of Lanxess employees who own company stock. Roughly 75 percent of contractual employees bought into the last Lanxess employee stock program, more than double the
Best investor relations by a CEO – small & mid-cap
national average, he proudly points out. Outside of the AgM, Heitmann has been
stepping up his investor relations over the past year. He spent 30 days on the road in 2011, visiting most of the leading fi nancial cities. The increased activity accompanied
the appointment of a new CFO in April 2011 to replace the award-winning former CFO, Matthias zachert. ‘When somebody new joins the company I’m happy to jump in and take a greater proportion of the capital markets commu-nications,’ Heitmann explains. ‘I really enjoy speaking to investors and there is also a lot for me to take home from
our exchanges and meetings.’Heitmann’s advice to his new CFO,
Dr Bernhard Düttmann, is to put investors fi rst, accept them as your customers, be
Dr Axel Heitmann, Ceo, Lanxess
do German companies benefi t from a ‘halo effect’ with inves-tors in the eurozone?no, it’s just the facts. We have worked hard on our competitive-ness over the years. We have lifted our effi ciency: our energy effi ciency, our raw materials effi ciency. With our technology-driven product performance, we have a lot of pricing power, which allows us to offset our raw materials volatility. this drives our performance.
what questions should investors be asking the chief executive of Lanxess?Lanxess is a management story so I would ask the Ceo: what is your management philosophy to run the business? the answer is the key to understanding why Lanxess has been successful, outperforming market expectations since 2005. on average, Lanxess has increased eBItDA in the last seven years by more than 20 percent a year, including the crisis year of 2009. this is a huge number.
How would you answer that question?It’s a culture of trust. For me, a management culture based on trust is a very powerful tool. When you can link this with an entrepreneurial spirit that rewards initiative and taking risks, that is a winning formula going forward.
‘When somebody new joins the company, I’m happy to jump in and take a greater proportion of the capital markets communications’
42 IR MAgAzInE InVESTOR PERCEPTIOn STUDy EUROPE 2012
Euro Top 100
five-year term as CEO. The following year he will celebrate his 10-year anniversary at the top, as well as the company’s 10-year birthday, although he is currently making no plans to celebrate either milestone. Rather, his primary focus is to keep growing Lanxess at high speed. ‘The immediate challenge for 2012 is to positively surprise the capital markets with a 5 percent to 10 percent increase on the record year of 2011,’ he says. In that respect, the company has got off to a good start: the first quarter of 2012 delivered record results for investors.
LanxessDr Axel Heitmann, Germany
UmicoreMarc Grynberg, Belgium
Portugal TelecomZeinal Bava, Portugal
voestalpineDr Wolfgang Eder, Austria
Tate & Lyle Javed Ahmed, UK
ArkemaThierry Le Hénaff, France
YIT CorporationJuhani Pitkäkoski, Finland
H LundbeckUlf Wiinberg, Denmark
Randstad Ben Noteboom, Netherlands
Dialog Semiconductor Jalal Bagherli, Germany
FLSmidth & CompanyJørgen Huno Rasmussen, Denmark
Hammerson David Atkins, UK
Nokian TyresKim Gran, Finland
24
23
22
21
21
18
18
18
18
26
30
38
57
Best investor relations by a Ceo – small & mid-cap
Best investor relations officer – small & mid-cap
Oliver Stratmann retains the best IRO award he won last year, after coming second in 2010. This expanding IR silverware, both
individually and company-wide, has not gone unnoticed by CEO Dr Axel Heitmann. ‘Oliver’s a real collector of awards – I’m proud to have him,’ says Heitmann. ‘He understands the needs of the financial markets, he is a strong team player and he has established an outstand-ing IR team within Lanxess.’
Besides a bigger trophy
cabinet, Stratmann has been rewarded for his efforts with a bigger IR team. The new hire has come from within Lanxess. During the recruitment process, Stratmann explained to HR what he was looking for: the top three qualities he listed were solid financial background, very sociable and knowledgeable in one of the Lanxess businesses. The exercise prompted him
to think of his own candidate, whom he subsequently recruited to the investor relations cause.
Stratmann’s new recruit will be spending at least three years in the role. The head of IR believes any less than that would be detrimental to investors and IROs alike. ‘you need to know the
very consistent with your message and be as transparent as possible. One year on, the CEO believes Düttmann is ‘up and running, constantly on roadshows and doing a great job.’
nonetheless, Heitmann is still planning to keep up the same number of IR commit-ments in 2012 – to the delight of head of IR Oliver Stratmann. ‘It’s a lot of time I am asking for but he realises it’s important and he also gets very good feedback from investors,’ explains Stratmann. ‘We have also experienced that having a CEO out there who can clearly communicate the strategy at the same time as having a CFO out there going deep into the numbers is an optimal combination.’
Heitmann has been CEO since the company was founded in 2004. He received his first experience of IR during the com-pany’s pre-IPO roadshows that same year. Looking back, he talks about building up this new company and new culture as the biggest test of his eight years at the top.
‘It was a real challenge to present the potential success of Lanxess while the vast majority of the investment community believed the company was just a collection of unwanted and unloved former Bayer businesses,’ explains Heitmann. As a measure of his success, a german sell-side analyst in this year’s research says Heitmann has turned the business from ‘the ugly duckling into the crown jewel’.
next year Heitmann will begin another
‘you need to know the capital markets in order to build up your network on the buy side and sell side. once you’ve done that, Ir becomes a lot more fun’
43IR MAgAzInE InVESTOR PERCEPTIOn STUDy EUROPE 2012
Euro Top 100
team at least double the size of his would be necessary in order to dedicate one person to oversee Twitter. ‘If I wanted to do it, I would have to do it properly,’ he explains. ‘That would mean dedicating a person to it, and I don’t have that person to dedicate.’
Even then, the head of IR questions the
level of demand from the investment community, which he sees as predominantly retail-driven. In fact, Stratmann wonders whether his core IR audience is starting to lean toward narrowing the channels of communication rather than expanding them. ‘When I speak to institutional investors I never get the feedback they would appreciate news via Twitter,’ he says. ‘Some of them even tell me I shouldn’t send them emails because they cannot handle the fl ood of email messages, so why would I use another medium to swamp them?’
Stratmann has other plans, nonetheless. now that the investor relations team has grown, he says certain ideas have suddenly become a lot more achievable – although the head of IR is reluctant to reveal anything just yet. Watch this space.
capital markets in order to build up your network on the buy side and sell side,’ says Stratmann. ‘Once you’ve done that, IR becomes a lot more fun.’
The additional person will help Stratmann and his team ‘do more of the good things’. By this, he means more meetings with more investors in more regions. In the past, limited IR resources has meant neglecting geographies such as Scandinavia and the US Midwest – places where there are very long-term investors, according to Stratmann.
Still, the team is not yet big enough for social media. After much thought on the issue, Stratmann takes the view that a
LanxessOliver Stratmann, Germany
PirelliValeria Leone, Italy
UmicoreGeoffroy Raskin, Belgium
Christian HansenAnders Mohr Christensen, Denmark
TelenetVincent Bruyneel & Rob Goyens, Belgium
William HillLyndsay Wright, UK
H LundbeckMagnus Thorstholm Jensen & Palle Holm Olesen, Denmark
Randstad Pascal Sluijter & Jan-Pieter van Winsen, Netherlands
DebenhamsLisa Williams, UK
EDP RenováveisRui Antunes, Portugal
24
24
23
21
20
20
32
27
36
59
Best investor relations offi cer – small & mid-cap
oliver Stratmann, head of investor relations, Lanxess
you’ve just been out on the road – where did you go?We do the Us east Coast on a quarterly basis: Boston and new york. In europe we do London, Frankfurt, Paris and switzerland. this time we also went to the netherlands and to edinburgh.
After a good fi rst quarter, what questions were asked?you can tell from the movements in the market right now that investors are nervous, and you get that feeling while on the road. the delivery of a good quarter is almost a must. then you are, of course, asked what your prospects are, how the business has been recently, has anything changed and what the growth prospects are. We position ourselves as a growth story and as such we have to deliver and explain how we want to grow.
what’s next for ir at Lanxess?We are very much looking forward to holding our fi rst capital markets day in the Us this year. Previously our capital markets days have always been based in europe but this time we decided to go to new york. We have had a very solid investor base in the Us since the spin-off.
the team is not yet big enough for social media
78 IR MAgAzInE InVESTOR PERCEPTIOn STUDy EUROPE 201278 IR MAgAzInE InVESTOR PERCEPTIOn STUDy EUROPE 2012
bEST IN SECTor
SupporT SErvICES/buSINESS SErvICES
1 rANDSTAD NETHErLANDS 242pts
2 FLsmidth & Company Denmark 169
3 Aggreko UK 152
4 edenred France 105
5 Wolseley UK 103
6 Babcock International Group
UK 86
7 experian Group UK 68
8 Michael Page International
UK 63
9 sGs Group switzerland 62
10 Arcadis netherlands 54
11 G4s UK 51
12 Adecco switzerland 48
13 Capita Group UK 44
14 suez environnement France 40
TECHNoLogy HArDwArE & EQuIpmENT/ELECTroNICS
1 ASmL NETHErLANDS 235pts
2 ArM Holdings UK 202
3 siemens Germany 160
4 CGGveritas France 69
5 schneider electric France 55
6 Infi neon technologies France 45
7 ericsson sweden 41
TECHNoLogy SofTwArE & SErvICES
1 AmADEuS SpAIN 193pts
2 sAP Germany 129
3 Imtech netherlands 118
4 Atos France 66
5 Capgemini France 57
6 Ubisoft entertainment France 36
Banks & financial services
12 109
8 8 6
66 5 5
43 3
3
2
2
1 1
1 1 1
3
Food & beverages/tobacco
Chemicals/speciality chemicals
Healthcare/pharmaceuticals & biotech
Telecoms
Automobiles & parts
Metals/mining/steel
Utilities
Insurance
Oil & gas
Retail
Diversified industrials/industrial machinery Real estate
Support services/business services
Technology software & services
Personal care & household/luxury goods
Technology hardware & equipment/electronics
Aerospace & defence
Construction & materials
Forestry & paper
Media
Travel & leisure
rETAIL
1 KINgfISHEr uK 403pts
2 Marks and spencer Group UK 246
3 Jerónimo Martins Portugal 145
4 J sainsbury UK 135
5 tesco UK 109
6 Debenhams UK 101
7 next UK 87
8 Casino Guichard-Perrachon France 81
9 Asos UK 74
10 Fielmann Germany 73
11 Douglas Holding Germany 64
12 Metro Germany 57
‘Seeing investors on the road’
vodAFone GrouP (rAnK 11)
doinG More oF in 2012…?
euro toP 100 by Sector
118 IR MAgAzInE InVESTOR PERCEPTIOn STUDy EUROPE 2012
SurvEy mETHoDoLogy
The first stage was to email all the contacts with an electronic version of the survey, programmed by market research firm Fox Insight; 181 respondents completed the survey electronically. Mary Maude Research then interviewed a further 541 by telephone. On average, interviews took between 10 and 15 minutes.
Points, rankings and awards
PoIntsThe respondents were asked to make three nominations per award category: first, second and third. A first choice nomination earns six points, a second choice earns three points and a third choice earns two. The total number of points is then calculated by multiplying by six the number of ‘firsts’, by three the number of ‘seconds’, and adding two points for each third. This points system is also used for most of IR magazine’s other investor perception studies around the world.
rAnKInGsThe points allow us to rank all companies in the entire investor perception study. The company with the highest number of points obtains the number one ranking; as companies’ points decrease, so do their ranking. This year the lowest number of points a ranked company can have is 25.
AWArDsThere are a total of 60 awards in this report. Awards are given for each category asked within the survey. The company or individual with the most points in each category wins the award.
Leading companies are also classified according to the following countries and sectors: For the country awards respondents were asked
to nominate separately for each country they cover. The winners of the sector awards are determined by adding together each company’s points from all the other award categories and ranking it within its sector.
MArKet CAPThe grand prix for best overall IR is awarded to three companies in three market-cap bands: large cap, mid-cap and small cap. There are also separate short lists for large cap and small or mid-cap companies in the individual awards for best investor relations officer, best IR by a CEO and best IR by a CFO.
Large-cap companies are those with a market cap of more than €5 bn included in the FTSEurofirst 300 index (and companies of equivalent size). Mid-cap companies are those between €1 bn and €4.999 bn. Small-cap companies are those of less than €1 bn market cap included in the FTSE Europe Small Cap index. All cap sizes are from February 2012.
AwArDS by CouNTry
Austria Italy
Belgium & Luxembourg netherlands
Czech republic norway
Denmark Poland
Finland Portugal
France spain
Germany sweden
Greece switzerland
Hungary turkey
Ireland UK
AwArDS by SECTor
Aerospace & defence
Alternative energy
Automobiles & parts
Banks & financial services
Chemicals/speciality chemicals
Construction & materials
Diversified industrials/industrial machinery
Food & beverages/tobacco
Forestry & paper
Healthcare/pharmaceuticals & biotech
Insurance
Media
Metals/mining/steel
oil & gas
Personal care & household/luxury goods
real estate
retail
support services/business services
technology hardware & equipment/electronics
technology software & services
telecoms
transport/transport infrastructure & services
travel & leisure
Utilities
119IR MAgAzInE InVESTOR PERCEPTIOn STUDy EUROPE 2012
rESpoNDENTS
A total of 722 respondents took part in the 2012 survey, made up of 181 online respondents and 541 telephone respondents. the breakdown below is for the telephone respondents only.
*23 percent of respondents said they cover all or most sectors in one or more countries
rESpoNDENTS by SECTor*
Aerospace & defence 4
Alternative energy 8
Automobiles & parts 16
Banks & financial services 47
Chemicals/speciality chemicals 24
Construction & materials 24
Diversified industrials/industrial machinery 28
Food & beverages/tobacco 52
Forestry & paper 8
Healthcare/pharmaceuticals & biotech 35
Insurance 21
Media 22
Metals/mining/steel 30
oil & gas 34
Personal care & household/luxury goods 11
real estate 18
retail 24
support services/business services 13
technology hardware & equipment/electronics 12
technology software & services 14
telecoms 37
transport/transport infrastructure & services 16
travel & leisure 13
Utilities 27
other 12
rESpoNDENTS by INvESTmENT roLE
Portfolio manager
Buy-side analyst
Sell-side analyst
Other
30%55%
1%
14%
