Projects by Instinctif Partners, a leading international business communications consultancy, with Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib Medical Services Group (“HMG“), Saudi British Bank (“SABB“), Etihad Etisalat (“Mobily“), Savola, the National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (“Bahri”) and Baladna, were recognised at the 2021 Middle East Investor Relations Association (“MEIRA“) Awards.
The MEIRA Conference & Awards is the most anticipated regional Investor Relations (IR) event of the year, celebrating best practice IR by issuers across the Middle East and North Africa. This year, Instinctif Partners placed increased emphasis on its clients’ digital annual reports, by incorporating multimedia content, increasing digital report functionality and tailored content. Environmental, social and governance (ESG) disclosures have also been increasingly adopted by issuers in the region.
In the large capitalisation category, HMG won first place for Best Digital Annual Report, followed by SABB in second place. SABB and HMG were also recognised for Best Print Annual Report in 2nd and 3rd place, respectively.
In the medium capitalisation category, Mobily won first place for both Best Print and Best Digital Annual Report. Bahri was awarded 3rd place for Best Print Annual Report and Savola came 3rd in Best Digital Annual Report. Baladna earned two first place awards for both Best Print and Best Digital Annual Report in the small capitalisation category.
Samantha Bartel, CEO & Managing Partner at Instinctif Partners Middle East & North Africa (MENA), commented: “We were pleased to attend compelling panel discussions and speeches, as well as to connecting with the MENA IR community. I would especially like to congratulate all the companies who worked effortlessly to showcase their strategic objectives and achievements. We are proud to work with distinguished clients in the region, and to support them in their efforts to achieve best practice IR and Reporting. The recognition of their efforts is truly well deserved.”
Pablo Alday, Head of Content & Creative at Instinctif Partners MENA commented: “We are constantly looking to elevate our corporate reporting offer to add value to our clients and support them in communicating with their stakeholders. This year, we were pleased to see an uptake in digital annual reports, a response to increased demand from investors and stakeholders for interactive and accessible content online. We have also seen a shift to increased multimedia content use, as well as more companies beginning to report on their ESG performance as part of their annual disclosure.”
In addition, HMG was also recognised in the Best Corporate Investor Relations (IR), Saudi Arabia Category. The winner is selected based on the results of the 2021 Emerging EMEA Executive Team survey, conducted by Institutional Investor, where buy-side and sell-side analysts rank the IR performance of listed corporates in the Middle East region.
Diana Estupinan, Associate Partner at Instinctif Partners MENA, commented: “It is a great honour to see our clients recognized in the corporate IR category, a testament of a collaborative effort to achieve best practice IR and engage with the market in a strategic manner. In the last year we have seen a shift toward increased transparency, greater corporate access engagement and the adoption of ESG strategies and measurement, trends that are transforming IR. We look forward to continuing to support our clients in navigating the shifting IR landscape.”
