| Wed 3 Nov 2004, 15:59 | | PRESS RELEASE |
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PRESS RELEASE
PICK `N PAY WINS PRESTIGIOUS AWARD FOR GOOD GOVERNANCE
South Africa`s high-profile listed companies were subjected to close scrutiny by analysts and the media during the past year and the winners of the 2004 Deloitte Good Governance Awards in association with Transnet and Moneyweb were announced today at a ceremony at The Castle in Kyalami.
The overall winner, Pick `n Pay, also scooped the category award for Ethics and Integrity. The winner in the category Board Effectiveness was Datacentrix, while Investec won the award for Remuneration Practices, and MTN won the award for Sustainable Development.
In accepting the award, Sean Summers, CEO of Pick `n Pay, said, `We are living in a new era of really invigorated corporate governance and all of the disciplines and protocols that go with it. But the great companies have had those in place for many years, in Pick `n Pay`s case 37 years. But, it just comes back to what the ethos of the organisation is, the real fabric of the company.`
Roy Shough, Partner, Enterprise Risk Services at Deloitte explained the rationale behind the format of the initiative, `This is the second year of Deloitte`s re-launched awards and once again we catered for awards in four categories, three of which are the same as last year, namely Board Effectiveness, Remuneration Practices and Ethics and Integrity. We replaced Accounting Practices with Sustainable Development. Not that Accounting Practices are not important, but the sustainability and corporate citizenship issues that business should take seriously, are vitally important to sustainable business, socio-economic development and a robust economy,` says Shough. `We felt we needed to highlight this important aspect of governance.`
The eight judges were respected asset managers from the major asset management companies. They were asked to nominate listed companies in the four award categories and then, together with Moneyweb and Deloitte and based on observation and experience, twelve finalists in each category were selected. Each judge then compiled individual scorecards for each finalist based on a number of relevant criteria within each category. The individual category and overall winners were arrived at by adding these scores.
The judges were Asief Mohamed from Metropolitan Asset Managers, Anet Ahern formerly of Keystone Investments, Steven Mildenhall from Allan Gray, Piet Viljoen from Regarding Capital Management, Wayne McCurrie from Momentum Multi Managers, Roelof Horne from Investec Asset Management, Tendai Musikavanhu from Umbono Fund Managers and David Shapiro from Barnard Jacobs Mellet.
The awards form part of Deloitte`s strategic objectives in promoting good corporate governance in South Africa. `Good governance is vitally important for the promotion of foreign investment in the country and setting the example to the rest of Africa,` says Vassi Naidoo, Deloitte`s Chief Executive.
Tendai Musikavanhu, CEO of Umbono Fund Managers, comments, `Effectively, what we did here was to look at companies which, regardless of performance, have put in place structures that add value to shareholders. In the long term, companies that have consistently good governance, perform well.`
Datacentrix won the category Board Effectiveness and Asief Mohamed of Metropolitan Asset Managers feels that `it is the most important of all as it has a direct bearing on all the others. I am of the view that South African companies have a significant way to go with regard to improving board effectiveness.`
Commenting on the category Ethics and Integrity, also won by Pick `n Pay, David Shapiro of Barnard Jacobs Mellet states, `It was very difficult to distinguish between the finalists as the standards which they have set for others to follow was so high. What stood out for me was that they have established a code of ethics which they impose not only on their own management and staff, but also on their customers.`
The award for Sustainable Development was won by MTN and Roelof Horne of Investec Asset Management said, `We are pleased to see the greater focus which South African business is placing on sustainable development. We believe that this will positively affect both our social and physical environment and also that companies with caring, responsible policies and attitude will deliver superior returns to its owners in the long term. Many companies have been doing `the right things` for many years, but the additional emphasis on `triple bottom line` is ensuring a more structured approach as it encourages the implementation of policies and procedures to ensure sustainable development. We are encouraged that a number of companies which by the very nature of their activities, have the potential to significantly damage the environment, have made the list of finalists.`
The winner of the Remuneration Practices category was Investec. `One of the major components of corporate governance is reporting on remuneration structures, policies and procedures within large companies,` says Wayne McCurrie of Momentum Multi Managers. `All the finalists in the category had very credible, independent and transparent processes in place.`
Advocate John Myburgh who was the keynote speaker at the awards luncheon, explained the need for companies, banks and parastatals to have suitably qualified directors, who had undergone an intensive induction programme, and who uphold the highest essential standards of integrity and probity.
Ends
3rd November 2004
