In the large company category, four distinctions were awarded for 2002. These went to Clas Ohlson AB, Nobia AB, SCANIA AB and Fastighets AB Tornet. In the small company category, distinctions were awarded to ProfilGruppen AB, AB Sardus, SkiStar AB and Lennart Wallenstam Byggnads AB.
"The Best Financial Reporting contest is part of Stockholmsbörsen's high- priority work to encourage listed companies to improve their information to investors and the rest of the market. The contest, which covers all listed companies, has played a role in the significant improvement of the annual reports produced by companies over the years. We thank the jury for their excellent work," says Exchange President Kerstin Hessius.
After three years in quarantine, in accordance with the contest's rules for winning companies, SCA immediately recaptured the first prize. The company's annual report satisfies virtually all of the requirements for good shareholder information. Among other strong points, the annual report includes a comprehensive description of SCA's various business areas and a discussion of the company's business concept and strategy, as well as an account of how successfully various financial objectives were satisfied and how shareholder value was generated.
NIBE, which was awarded a distinction in the small companies class in 2001, won first prize in the same category this year. The company provides excellent reports of the operations of its business areas. Plenty of space is devoted to risk management within the group, and the Board of Directors' work methods, including remuneration and severance pay, are described relatively comprehensively. In addition, an extensive description of NIBE's management philosophy provides the reader with a solid impression of how the company wants to work.
Using a comprehensive approach, the jury's task is to identify the external financial reporting that best meets the demands of shareholders and other readers. The external information that the jury primarily focuses on is annual reports.
The jury consisted of Ulf Strömsten, chairman, Hans Edenhammar and Anders Haskel. Björn Grundvall, Sigvard Heurlin and Rolf Rundfelt served as co-opted experts. The competition - held for the 38th time this year - includes information from all listed companies, as well as other companies and state agencies who voluntarily submit their financial reports. The dividing line between the "large" and "small" company classes consisted of a market capitalization of SEK 2 billion (or reported equity in the case of non-listed companies) on December 31, 2002.
