The Ljubljana Stock Exchange (LJSE) has awarded its 16^th annual Portal Prize, the prize honouring exemplary investor relations (IR) and corporate governance (CG) practices. The winner was selected by the assessment board composed of investors, analysts, the press and representatives of the LJSE. They assessed listed companies along 10 criteria, looking at their quality of disclosure, CG, communication strategies and IR approaches during the period from October 2010 to September 2011.

Over the past 12 months listed companies dealt with an increasingly difficult economic situation. In such circumstances what the investors need most is prompt, clear and transparent disclosure of past operations, explanations of any deviations from set plans, and announcements of future objectives. The following companies were short-listed for Portal 2011 (in alphabetic order):

• appliance maker Gorenje, d. d.,
• pharmacist Krka, d. d.,
• retailer Mercator, d. d.,
• bank Nova KBM d. d,
• telecommunications operator Petrol, d. d..
  

The top Slovene listed company in terms of quality IR and CG practices is again the Novo mesto-based pharmacist Krka, d. d. Krka has scored the most points in the Portal Prize assessment process for five consecutive years, therefore this year the LJSE has awarded it the special Golden Portal Prize for exemplary IR and CG practices during the period 2007–2011. What makes Krka a role model is its consistency of disclosure both with respect to the Slovene and international public, its maintaining IR at a high professional level, and its continuous adjustments to international best practices. This year the assessment board wanted to especially commend Krka for its year-long efforts invested into maintaining its high quality disclosure practices (with very few deviations) as well as for its efforts invested into introducing new corporate disclosure approaches. The assessment board has no doubt that Krka sees its achievements as a continuous challenge, and is awarding it the Golden Portal Prize in recognition of its year-long excellence in the area. 

The assessment board is also pleased to report that another listed company came very close to the five-year winner this year. With its high standards of transparency in the area of corporate communication and governance it is leading the way for other Slovene companies to follow. This company is the Velenje-based appliance maker Gorenje, d. d., which is the 2011 winner of the Portal Prize for IR and CG practices. Its high score is mainly due to its quick responses to the needs of the professional public, its quality periodic disclosure and transparency.

This year the assessment board also awarded a prize for special achievements: the company recognised for having the Best IR Team in 2011 is the bank Nova KBM d. d. In the assessment period its IR team worked exceptionally hard and was very professional in communicating with investors and the public.