Managing director of Qian Hu Kenny Yap said: 'I am extremely excited but humbled at winning these Awards because this is really a recognition to the entire Qian Hu team.' --PHOTO: ZAOBAO
FROM a kampung pig farm to one of the world's leading breeders and suppliers of ornamental fish, Qian Hu Corporation emerged the biggest winner at this year's Singapore Corporate Awards (SCA) on Thursday night.
Qian Hu - already a regular winner at local business and entrepreneurial awards for years - won four out of five categories.
These include awards for firms with market capitalisation of less than $300 million, Best Managed Board (Merit), Chief Financial Officer of the Year, Best Investor Relations (Bronze) and Best Annual Report (Gold).
Qian Hu's wins come on the back of a 10.5 per cent rise in its first quarter net profit for 2009 for the three months ended March.
Managing director of Qian Hu Kenny Yap said: 'I am extremely excited but humbled at winning these Awards because this is really a recognition to the entire Qian Hu team that played such a big part in growing the company to the sound corporation it is today.'
At Thursday's presentation ceremony held at the Shangri-La Hotel, 22 companies and seven individuals were recognised for leading the way in corporate governance and shareholder communication.
In all, seven boards were honoured for the high quality of corporate governance in their board practices, nine companies for excellence in their investor relations and 13 companies were commended for their high standards of disclosure in financial reporting.
SCA chairperson, Ms Yeo Lian Sim said the award applauds companies that go to great lengths to ensure they are run by strong board of directors, chief executives and financial officers who maintained 'high standards of governance' in this challenging environment.
'With transparency and timely disclosure, companies effectively communicate their quality to the market,' said Ms Yeo, who is also the senior executive vice president and head of risk management and regulation at the Singapore Exchange (SGX).
The awards, jointly organised by The Business Times and SGX are segmented into listed firms with market capitalisation of $1 billion and above, $300 million to less than $1 billion and those with less than $300 million.
