Ukrainian IR Forum 2012. It is the time of rebuilding investor trust
Kyiv, Ukraine. 27.07.12. Press release
Ukrainian IR Forum 2012: "Leadership through IR", the first major professional event in Ukraine for Investor Relations, was attended by over 100 market practitioners. The forum brought together representatives of all key audiences involved in investor relations: top management of Ukrainian public and pre-IPO companies, sell-side analysts, financial journalists, investors and advisers to discuss key influences on current market valuation and building investor trust.
Ukrainian IR Forum 2012: Leadership through IR took place on July 5 at the Fairmont Grand Hotel in Kiev. It was organized by FinanceTalking CIS and the IR Council, CGPA. The main purpose was to develop a greater understanding of the market’s perception of Ukrainian companies and to generate new ideas for improving IR. Despite the difficult market environment, the event aroused great interest. It was attended by 115 delegates, among them Ukrainian public and pre-IPO companies, key sell-side analysts, financial media, some investors and market professionals, including stock exchanges, advisory etc. This reflects the Ukrainian IR market development and the formation of a professional IR community and may also be a response to the criticism in the financial media and among investors of the IR activities and corporate governance culture of some Ukrainian companies in recent months.
The IR Forum comprised 4 sessions on corporate governance, valuation, practical IR tools and financial media relations. Each session was accompanied by success stories from senior IR practitioners’ and hot discussions.
According to investors, corporate governance remains the key risk for Ukrainian business and should be a top management priority in the coming years. For those investors who work in the Ukrainian equity and fixed income markets, corporate governance is not simply a formality, but a system of interaction with the owners and the management team. "To evaluate it properly, it is very important to meet the owners and the management team face to face and to look at their eyes before doing any investment into a Ukrainian company" – Elena Voloshina, Head of IFC Operations in Ukraine, said.
On the topic of building investor trust, experienced company representatives stressed the importance of an open dialog with investors, especially in bad times. All participants were inspired by the Milkiland example of building open and proactive dialog with investors at a time when all the main risks described in Milkiland’s prospectus were realized during the first year after IPO. Milkiland faced a perfect storm of subsidy policy changes, raw materials price increase and rubble devaluation that made company’s products less competitive, plus a temporary export embargo and the resignation of the CEO. Nevertheless management managed to salvage the company's reputation through open communication and this has been reflected in the gradual recovery of the share price.
Sergey Evlanchik, CEO and major shareholder of Ukrproduct, focussed on common mistake of being overoptimistic on forecasted sales and earnings and suggested being more conservative in discussing the outlook. Anna Gorbenko, head of FinanceTalking CIS, also noted that some companies issue very precise earnings guidance that often leads to investor disappointment and suggested that offering a range of possible outcomes might help.
Discussing the role of IR in the Ukrainian public companies, Peter Russell, VP and Member of the Advisory Group for IR in J.P.Morgan said: "Two factors above all determine the success of a company’s IR efforts: a commitment to IR by management and an IRO with senior-level insight. Ukraine’s IR practices continue to evolve in the right direction. Among many companies, there is clear enthusiasm for investor outreach, while the IRO is increasingly seen as a valued partner by the executive team."
"IR is becoming more complex, with a rapidly growing number of channels through which companies can theoretically communicate with investors. The question is which channels are actually effective", - said Tom Blackwell, managing director of M: Communications Russia.
"We are delighted that this year’s IR Forum successfully met all its major objectives. We provided a great opportunity to build and strengthen the dialogue between all market participants, which I hope will be reflected on improved IR and the rebuilding of trust in Ukrainian companies. We are planning our next event for June 2013 and hope that we can do more to improve both the market’s understanding and the quality of companies’ financial communications."-
said Anna Gorbenko, head of FinanceTalking CIS.
ABOUT ORGANIZERS
FinanceTalking Ltd. The company provides financial education services in the field of investor relations and corporate financial communications around the world. FinanceTalking was founded in 2000. It is headquartered in the UK and runs programs internationally. Trainings are held in all major financial centres of the world and are included in the IR learning programme NIRI in the United States. FinanceTalking clients range from multinationals listed on a number of stock exchanges to businesses intending to list. The company has provided training to more than 50% of the FTSE100.
IR Council CGPA. CGPA is a public organization "Professional Association of Corporate Governance". IR Council is the Committee of the Association in the field of Investor Relations. The purpose of the Association is to bring together corporate governance professionals to facilitate development and improvement of corporate governance in Ukraine, implementation of generally accepted international standards of corporate governance, improving ethics in corporate relations, elevating the role and authority of experts on corporate governance, as well as satisfaction, protection of rights and legitimate interests of its members .
ABOUT PARTNERS
The general partner of the Forum was PwC Ukraine; Official Partner was J.P.Morgan; Partners: Pro Capital Group, Citigate Dewe Rogerson, M:Communication Group. Mediapartner – Companion publishing house, PR-Partner - Newsfront PR Agency. Information Partners: LSE, WSE, Ukrainian Stock exchange, MICEX, IR Magazine Russia&CIS, Ukrainian-British City Club, Thomson Reuters, Rustocks.com and UAPR. The exclusive partner for international news distribution is EquityStory AG
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