Stora Enso won first prize for its Annual Report 2000 in a Swedish competition arranged by the Stockholm Stock Exchange and SEB. The prize-giving ceremony was held in Stockholm on 8 November. Altogether 284 companies, including most of the companies listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange, were assessed in the competition, which was being held for the 36th time.
The adjudicators were looking for the company that best met the report requirements of shareholders and other readers in terms of content and graphic design. They paid special attention to the overall presentation of each company in its annual report, interim reviews and financial information on its Website.
In awarding Stora Enso the first prize in the large companies category, the adjudicators praised the company's annual report for being so informative, explicitly describing the company’s business, goals and targets in all relevant areas, not just financial. Risks were clearly identified, and the annual report layout was also commended.
“Globalization, the rising numbers of listed companies on stock markets and the increasing general complexity of business are making life more complicated for investors and the media alike. Stora Enso’s aim is to simplify things by reporting openly and clearly. We are constantly developing our reporting, and are gratified to see our achievements recognized by this award,” said Stora Enso Deputy CEO Björn Hägglund.
Stora Enso has recently won several other awards for its presentation of information to the public. Last June it won a similar competition in Finland arranged by the Helsinki Stock Exchange and the Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat. At the end of October Stora Enso was ranked as having the best company Website in Finland, according to Webbranking 2001, the fifth such annual ranking by the Swedish consulting company Hallvarsson & Halvarsson. In October Stora Enso was also ranked as having the best environmental Web reporting among Finnish forest products companies in a competition organised by the financial newspaper Taloussanomat, Elinkaari, the accountants' association KHT-yhdistys, the Helsinki School of Economics and Business Administration and the Ministry of the Environment.
For more information, please contact:
Maija Harsu, Vice President Investor Relations, tel. +358 40 589 2821
