The winner of the 2010 PORTAL prize for best IR and CG is the Novo mesto-based pharmacist Krka, d. d. The company is renowned for its quality corporate disclosure and governance and has been setting high standards in the area for several consecutive years. Through its best practice corporate communication strategy the winning company has engaged directly with all publics, both international and Slovenian. The promptly provided information on the company’s operations, clearly structured websites and a top quality approach to IR all testify to the fact that the 2010 Portal prize again went to the right address.

President of the Krka Management Board, Jože Colarič: »Quality governance and disclosure help a listed company gain an important competitive edge, as they send a clear signal to investors that the company is governed wisely and transparently. This is our fourth consecutive Portal prize. The past years have been challenging and have urged all companies to improve their operations by looking for and implementing best practice solutions, and by examining how well we run our business. Portal is therefore very important to us, because it shows that our efforts were well invested and that we are on the right track. Krka will continue to strengthen its open corporate communication strategy and high governance standards. This is how we build a long-term relationship with the expert public and stakeholders, and generate value for investors.«

The efforts of company Poslovni sistem Mercator, d. d. in improving its IR in 2010 were also recognized by the Portal assessment board. The company received a special prize for making significant headway in its IR strategy. Taking an active approach to communicating with investors and presenting them with quality business information, Mercator d. d. has demonstrated the importance of quality IR.

The 2010 Ljubljana Stock Exchange Portal prize is the 15th annual prize for best CG and IR. The winner was selected by the assessment board composed of investors, analysts, the press and representatives of the LJSE, applying a two-level assessment method comprising 10 criteria. They looked at the companies’ quality of disclosure, CG, communication strategies and IR in the period from October 2009 to September 2010.

The short-listed companies for the 2010 Portal prize were (in alphabetic order): appliance maker Gorenje, d. d., pharmacist Krka, d. d., retailer Mercator, d. d., energy distributer Petrol, d. d. and telecommunications operator Telekom Slovenije, d. d.

In recent years the Portal assessment board has noticed an improvement in the corporate communication methods and IR strategies applied by the LJSE blue chips. Companies have begun using contemporary communication tools, such as electronic voting at AGMs and interactive online applications, and they are more responsive to investor queries, holding regular conferences for investors and analysts. To encourage further development of quality corporate communication and governance and to motivate other listed companies to comply with it, the assessment board has posted on the LJSE website (www.ljse.si) the best practices of corporate communication and IR.