ICAP & ICMAP hold best corporate and sustainability report 2018 awards

Speakers at the ceremony of 'Best Corporate and Sustainability Report 2018 Awards' said that high-quality, transparent financial reporting is fundamental to building trust in the capital markets and to making investment decisions. The event was jointly organized by The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP) and Institute of Cost and Management Accountant of Pakistan (ICMAP) at a local hotel on Tuesday.
As many as 40 awards were presented to best performer companies for Good Reporting. Chairman Pakistan Center for Philanthropy Zafar A Khan, Acting Managing Director Pakistan Stock Exchange Limited Muhammad Rafique Umer, CEO Cherat Packaging Limited Amer Faruque, and CEO Mutual Funds Association of Pakistan Ms Mashmooma Zehra Majeed were the Guests of Honor on the occasion and spoke to the event.
President ICAP Jafar Husain in his speech said that high quality financial information is important because it influences capital providers and other stakeholders in making informed decisions. He said that information in the annual reports regarding transparency and governance, increase levels of trust and confidence between companies and their shareholders and other stakeholders.
He acknowledged that this competition has brought tremendous improvement in the annual reports of the companies over the period. Master of Ceremony Ahmad Saeed quoted that "Life as we know it, with all its ups and downs, will soon be over. We will give an accounting to Almighty Allah of how we have lived." Zia ul Mustafa, President ICMA Pakistan while speaking on the occasion said that BCSR Awards are considered a symbol of pride and honor for the corporate sector. The purpose is to recognize their efforts in timely and accurate publication of financial statements in line with the global standards and benchmarks.
Since its inception in 2000, these Awards have developed a healthy competition among the listed companies and improved their level of compliance with financial reporting standards and code of corporate governance. He gave credit of all these positive developments to the two professional accounting bodies i.e. ICMA Pakistan and CA Pakistan who have all along been working together in this direction.
The Evaluation Committee Chairman Abdul Rahim Suriya in his brief Presentation shared his observations about NPOs/NGOs in Pakistan, receiving substantial amount as Zakat and Donation but they usually lack in transparency, and usually their annual reports are not published. He suggested SECP to consider adopting for voluntary compliance of the BCR Criteria in the preparation of their Annual Reports by all Listed and Public Sector Companies and NPOs. Further, he also recommended to PSX for allowing some weightage in their criteria for the best performing companies.
Fauji Fertilizers Company Limited was declared the overall winner and winner in the category of 'Chemicals & Fertilizers'. Other winners of the Best Corporate Report 2018 awards included Abbot Laboratories (Pakistan) Limited. Al Ghazi Tractors Limited, Cherat Packaging Limited, First Habib Modaraba, Jubilee General Insurance Limited, Kohinoor Textile Mills Limited, Maple Leaf Cement Factory Limited and Mari Petroleum Company Limited.
Allied Bank Limited, Bank Alfalah Limited, Cherat Cement Company Limited, Engro Fertilizers Limited, First Micro Finance Bank Limited, Gadoon Textile Mills Limited, Hi-tech Lubricants Limited, ICI Pakistan Limited, International Industries Limited, Lucky Cement Limited, Pak Elektron Limited, Pakistan State Oil Company Limited, Pakistan Tobacco Company Limited, Sadaqat Limited, Takaful Pakistan and TPL General Insurance and Tri-pack Films Limited, were declared runner up with second and third positions, under their respective categories.
Merit Certificates were awarded to Aisha Steel Mills Limited, Atlas Honda Limited, Attock Petroleum Limited, Crescent Steel & Allied Products Limited, Gul Ahmed Textile Mills Limited, International Steels Limited, Mughal Iron & Steel Industries Limited, Pakistan Cables Limited, Pakistan Oilfields Limited, Shahid Afridi Foundation and The Citizens Foundation.
For Best Sustainability Report (BSR) award, first position was secured by Fauji Fertilizers Company Limited. Runners up for BSR were ICI Pakistan Limited and Sadaqat Limited included. Merit Certificates were awarded to Atlas Honda Limited, Attock Refinery Limited, Avenceon Limited, and International Industries Limited. The Event concluded with the vote of thanks by Shehzad Ahmed Malik, Chairman Joint Committee of ICAP & ICMAP.