BIZ BUZZ: Golden Arrows for everyone
Good governance is steadily becoming the standard among Philippine corporations, and it always shows this time of the year.
We’re talking about the Institute of Corporate Directors’ annual Golden Arrow Awards, which recognizes the performance of companies when it comes to governance, including equitable treatment of shareholders, sustainability and resilience, and transparency and accountability.
The ASEAN Corporate Governance Scorecard is the main gauge, composed of 193 questions based on the publicly available disclosures of companies. A one-arrow award is awarded to those that achieve a score of at least 75 points, while a five-arrow recognition is given to those with 115 to 130 points.
SM Investments Corp. (SMIC), the country’s largest conglomerate, was among the recipients of the latter. Apart from SMIC, another Sy family-led company that received the 5 Golden Arrow Award is real estate giant SM Prime Holdings Inc. Other awardeed were China Banking Corp., Belle Corp. and BDO Unibank Inc. (four arrows); Pacific Online Systems Corp. (two arrows); and APC Group Inc. and Atlas Consolidated Mining and Development Corp. (three arrows).
“Receiving this award for the second year in a row reflects the dedication of our board, management and employees across the SM Group,” SMIC chair Amando Tetangco Jr. said in a statement on Tuesday.
Also bringing home honors are companies under the Gotianun-led Filinvest Group.
Conglomerate Filinvest Development Corp. (FDC), Filinvest REIT Corp. and EastWest Banking Corp. each received two arrows, while Filinvest Land Inc. received one.
Meanwhile, Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc., Aboitiz Power Corp. and Union Bank of the Philippines—all three listed companies of the Aboitiz Group—each took home a 4 Golden Arrow Award.
For its part, Ayala Land Inc. also earned a 4 Golden Arrow Award, while subsidiaries AyalaLand Logistics Holdings Corp. and AREIT Inc. each received a 3 Golden Arrow Award.
D&L Industries Inc. wasn’t far behind the big conglomerates.
The food ingredients and plastic manufacturer took home a 3 Golden Arrow recognition, an improvement from last year’s two-arrow award.
This is also its sixth consecutive year receiving the award.
Megawide Construction Corp., which is emerging as one of the high-potential infrastructure firms of the bourse, bagged a 2 Golden Arrow Award, marking its fifth straight year of being recognized.
