Companies in winning habit
Winning is a habit. This phrase was immortalised by someone not widely known in SA, but who became the epitome of success in the US for leading the Green Bay Packers in the late 1960s to three successive titles and five championships in seven years.
Coined by famed football coach Vince Lombardi, the more complete quotation summarises his philosophy on success: “Winning is not a sometime thing; it’s an all the time thing. You don’t win once in a while … you don’t do things right once in a while … you do them right all the time. Winning is habit.”
These are words that many company executives tasked with driving their organisations onward and upward would embody. They are a mantra particularly apt to the world of investor relations in which consistency is valued almost more highly than occasional outperformance. It is such consistency that the Investment Analysts Society of SA’s (IAS) annual awards acknowledge.
The 2017 edition was hosted on Thursday night at the JSE in Sandton, where Growthpoint Properties walked away with top honours as the overall winner. The accolade for the group should come as no great surprise as Growthpoint has featured as a category winner in each of the past six years, as well as being named overall winner in 2014.
IAS chair Chris Gilmour notes that this theme of a select number of companies standing out consistently is reflective of the culture of those businesses and their leaders. He says these perennial top performers are noteworthy for their commitment to consistency, transparency and a willingness to share information.
Winners in the 2017 IAS Awards who fit this bill include the likes of Tongaat Hulett, Investec, Gold Fields and Discovery. These companies have featured prominently over
at did leastso againthe pastby winningfive years their and respectivebeen singled categoriesout for the or qualityhave of their presentations. Sector winners
Mining & Resources: Gold Fields Financial — Banks: Standard Bank Group Financial — Insurance: Discovery Holdings Financial — Financial Services: Investec Bank Industrial — Basic Industry: Wilson Bayly Holmes-Ovcon Industrial — Services: Onelogix Group Consumer Products: Tongaat Hulett Retail Services: Ascendis Health Property: Growthpoint Properties
Additional industry-agnostic awards include: Companies with market capitalisation below R5bn: Clover Industries
Best Presentation to the Society in 2016 — companies with market capitalisation above R30bn: Discovery Holdings Best Presentation to the Society in 2016 — companies with market capitalisation between R5bn-R30bn: Emira Property Fund
Best Presentation to the Society in 2016 — companies with market capitalisation below R5bn: Onelogix Group IAS Journal Award 2016: Prof Gary Van Vuuren and Brendan Prettejohn: The effect of yield curve shape and level on bond immunisation Samrec/IAS Award: Impala Platinum Holdings
Samrec/IAS for Smaller Capitalisation Companies, Annual Report award: Keaton Energy Holdings
Says Gilmour: “If you look at the people coming to accept their awards, you’re seeing many more CEOs attending. Previously it was only the financial directors. So I think everyone, starting at the top, is understanding that effective communication is important.”