The SPS on 23 April announced the winners of the sixth annual Strategic Value in Corporate Reporting Awards.
The Awards are given to the FTSE 350 companies that can demonstrate they put their strategic thinking, planning and management into words, so directors and investors can make better assessments of future potential and worth. Past award winners have significantly outperformed the market and their industry peers, demonstrating the value in adopting best practice.
Ian McDonald Wood, Chairman of the SPS, stressed that, in the era of increasing transparency and tighter regulation, business would have to improve reporting standards. He noted that the evident value in doing so should make this a strategic imperative for better business performance, rather than just a compliance issue.
“Consistent strategic reporters that have made our short lists for at least three years over the four year of the SPS awards are 80% ahead of the FTSE350 index – 82.77% versus 2.68%,” McDonald Wood said. “These are truly remarkable results. Strategic reporting reveals the truly strategically-literate companies”.
At the event, Richard Whittington, Professor of Strategy at Saïd Business School, Oxford, and Consultant and Advisor to the Institute of Directors (IOD), gave a keynote speech emphasising the growing importance of strategic importance in the ‘Age of Transparency’, the new reality for business in the post-crisis economy.
Winners included: Rolls-Royce Holdings for Best Strategic Leadership; Lloyds Banking Group for
Best Group Strategy; Man Group for Best Business Model; BAE Systems for Best Strategic Governance; ARM Holdings for Best Key Performance Indicators; Marks and Spencer Group for Best Strategic Risk; Serco Group for Best Strategic Capability; Telecity Group for Most Improved Report; and Anglo American for Best Shared Strategic Value. Four companies were shortlisted for each category. Full details can be found on the Awards website at www.svcr.squarespace.com.