LEADING companies were honoured at the 17th annual Singapore Corporate Awards (SCA) on Tuesday (Aug 30) for their performance in corporate governance and sustaining shareholder returns.
This year, 32 listed companies and 6 individuals were awarded at the event that aims to recognise exemplary corporate governance practices in Singapore’s listed companies.
Speaking at the SCA, guest-of-honour and Minister for Health Ong Ye Kung noted that CEOs and boards of today have more things to worry about, amid an increasing emphasis on the “less tangible but crucial aspects”, such as environmental, social and governance (ESG)-related considerations.
He said: “ESG may sometimes make uncomfortable demands on boards because it can open up an endless set of non-economic goals and objectives, tugging you in many different directions. But it reflects the complex world we live in today, and the collective concerns of our stakeholders.”
Among the winners, CapitaLand Group – which comprises CapitaLand Investment (CLI), CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust (CICT), Ascendas Reit and Ascott Residence Trust – won 3 company awards and 1 individual award. DBS, SBS Transit and Qian Hu Corporation won 3 company awards each, while UOB bagged 2 company awards and 1 individual award.
CICT and Ascendas Reit were awarded gold and silver awards, respectively, for Best Annual Report, while Ascott Residence Trust won the gold award for Best Investor Relations. They were awarded under the Reits (real estate investment trusts) and business trusts category.
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CLI’s chief financial officer Andrew Lim was also recognised as Best CFO in the large-caps category, meant for companies with a market cap of S$1 billion or more.
Separately, in the large-caps category, DBS and UOB were tied for the gold award for Best Risk Management.
DBS also won a gold award for Best Managed Board and a silver for Best Annual Report, while UOB won a silver award for Best Investor Relations and its CEO Wee Ee Cheong was honoured as Best CEO as well.
Other winners in the large-caps category include SATS, OCBC, SIA Engineering, Singtel and Keppel Corporation.
In the mid-caps category, meant for companies with a market cap of S$300 million or more, but less than S$1 billion, SBS Transit won 2 gold awards for Best Managed Board and Best Risk Management, and a silver award for Best Annual Report.
Other winners in the category include Del Monte Pacific, Hong Leong Asia, Rex International Holding, Vicom, Metro Holdings, Far East Orchard, Micro-Mechanics (Holdings), Silverlake Axis and Tuan Sing Holdings.
Meanwhile, Qian Hu bagged 2 gold awards for Best Managed Board and Best Annual Report, and a bronze award for Best Investor Relations in the small-caps category, meant for companies with a market cap of less than S$300 million.
In the same category, other winners include Sing Investment and Finance, The Trendlines Group, Innotek, LHN, CSE Global, Global Investments, Uni-Asia group, Yoma Strategic Holdings and Banyan Tree Holdings.
Wong Wei Kong, co-chair of SCA and editor of The Business Times, said: “The SCA serves to acknowledge and celebrate businesses that embody the qualities of excellent corporate governance, and also acts as a timely reminder for peers to step up and adopt best practices in all aspects, as part of a holistic and comprehensive ESG strategy.”
Emerging from the pandemic, good corporate governance is not just about shareholder returns, but also accountability, responsibility, sustainability and diversity, Wong noted.
“These principles of ESG will be an increasingly important benchmark for the SCA,” he added.
Kelvin Tan, co-chair of SCA and council member of the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants (ISCA), also noted that good corporate governance will lay the foundation for companies to navigate today’s challenging and ever-evolving landscape.
The event was co-organised by The Business Times, ISCA and the Singapore Institute of Directors, and supported by the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority and the Singapore Exchange. Standard Chartered is the presenting sponsor.
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