AIB wins investor awards

AIB was the big winner at the first annual Investor Relations Magazine Ireland Awards yesterday, taking home three of the eight prizes for shareholder communications by companies listed on the Irish Stock Exchange.

After the year when its US subsidiary Allfirst was hit by a 645 million fraud, AIB won the Grand Prix for best overall investor relations by a "large cap" company.

The Republic's largest bank also won awards for best investor meetings and roadshows and best use of the internet for investor relations.

Jurys Doyle Hotel Group collected the Grand Prix for best overall investor relations by a small to mid cap company.

Ms Mary King of Bank of Ireland won the award for best investor relations officer.

Mr Michael O'Leary, chief executive of Ryanair, was awarded the prize for best investor relations by a chief executive. The award was collected on his behalf.

Building materials group CRH won awards for best annual report and best corporate governance. Its chief executive, Mr Liam O'Mahoney, accepted both awards.

The ceremony, hosted by journalist and broadcaster Mr David McWilliams and preceded by an investor relations conference, was the first gathering of its kind.

Mr Neil Stewart, editor of Investor Relations magazine, said he was pleased with the level of attendance the event had received from senior figures from the nominated companies, including some chief executives.

The event, sponsored by PricewaterhouseCoopers with the Irish Times as its media partner, will be repeated next year.

Before the ceremony, Mr David Devlin, president of FEE - the European Federation of Accountants - and partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, said some financial reporting issues still needed to be resolved following financial scandals such as that at US energy trading company Enron.

"If analysts see something wrong with accounts, they should have an ethical obligation to do something about it," Mr Devlin said. Enforcement of regulations should extend beyond listed companies to all public interest companies, he added.