| Mon 1 Sep 2008, 16:00 | | ATN/ATNP - Altron - Media Announcement: Altron Achieves Gold |
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ATN ATNP
ATN
ATN/ATNP - Altron - Media Announcement: Altron Achieves Gold
Allied Electronics Corporation Limited
(Registration number 1947/024583/06)
(Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa)
Share Code : ATN ISIN: ZAE000029658
Share Code : ATNP ISIN: ZAE000029666
("Altron" or "the company")
MEDIA ANNOUNCEMENT: ALTRON ACHIEVES GOLD
Allied Electronics Corporation Ltd (Altron), with interests across
telecommunications, multi-media, IT and power electronics, is the first company
in South Africa to be awarded a Gold certificate for corporate governance by
Corporate Governance Accreditation (CGA) - having achieved a score in excess of
80%.
The CGA award is a national independent measure of corporate governance that
recognises companies with positive governance practices while providing
assurance to stakeholders and investors.
"This is not only an improvement on Altron`s Silver Award last year which proves
their commitment to improving on governance performance, but also positions the
company as an industry leader in achieving the first CGA gold governance award
in South Africa," said Jonathan Lewis, Managing Director of CGA.
The CGA award utilises an auditing methodology and web-based toolkit, supported
by the Institute of Directors in Southern Africa (IoD), which guides and assists
companies in ensuring that they conform to best practice governance standards.
This enables the board and office bearers to be continually apprised and fully
informed of their duties and responsibilities, provides a transparent window of
assurance to all shareholders and a significant benchmark for full corporate
governance accreditation.
Lewis remarked: "The verification process applies the recommendations and
guidelines of the Second King Report on Corporate Governance (King II), JSE
governance listing requirements and good practice standards providing a
comprehensive gap analysis of the level of progress achieved by the accredited
company. It also ensures that the benchmarking process takes place against a
standardised content."
According to Lewis the verification process assesses all areas of governance
including, board and director-related issues, the role of chairman and chief
executive, board Committees, risk management, internal and external audit; as
well as the full spectrum of integrated sustainability issues including
environmental, social responsibility, ethics, diversity, broad based BEE and
HIV/Aids issues.
"The board and management of Altron should be congratulated on being the first
JSE-listed company to achieve a CGA Gold award. They have raised the bar in
governance and laid down the governance gauntlet to others in their sector and
on the main board.` said Lewis.
Dr Bill Venter, Chairman of the Altron Board, said: "Altron is delighted with
this award which, aside from confirming Altron`s commitment to best corporate
governance practices, provides investors with the necessary independent
assurance and verification that Altron`s business practices are sustainable and
in line with international best practices."
Ends
Issued on behalf of: Corporate Governance Accreditation and Altron
For more information: Jonathan Lewis
MD CGA
Telephone: 083 358 0253
Or
Andrew Johnston,
Altron Group Company Secretary
Telephone: 011 645 3600
Notes to editors
Internationally, governance ratings organisations such as Institutional
Shareholder Services, Glass Lewis, Governance Metrics International and Deutsche
Bank, to mention a few, measure companies governance standards based on publicly
available information. Often these companies are rated with little or no input
of their own into the process and with differing results.
One of the reasons is that various organisations tend to focus on different
aspects of governance - such as BEE compliance, board representation or
corporate social responsibility - rather than approaching governance from a
holistic, inclusive perspective. Another is that the assessors may have mis-
interpreted information or may have been using outdated data when arriving at
their outcomes. Finally, each rating agency uses its own particular criteria in
assessing governance which results in a distorted and non-standardised approach
making comparisons difficult.
CGA provides a certification using comprehensive web-based auditing tool-kits
that benchmark organisations against global governance best practice industry
standards. In effect, the tool is of such a nature that it is unprecedented and
is standardizing the benchmarking of corporate governance. The products are an
invaluable tool for management of companies concerned about their governance
standards and transparency, and provide many ancillary benefits such as director
and board evaluations and integrated sustainability monitoring.
Johannesburg
1 September 2008
Sponsor: Investec Bank Limited
Date: 01/09/2008 16:00:01 Produced by the JSE SENS Department.
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