Börse Online – Readers’ Choice of the Best Investor Relations in Germany (BIRD 2009)

BIRD 2009
January 2010

2nd place in the DAX (previous year: 5th place)
7th place overall (previous year: 18th place)

In its BIRD 2009 (Beste Investor Relations Deutschland) poll, BÖRSE ONLINE has, for a seventh time, examined the extent to which private investors feel they are well informed about the course of business, strategy and future prospects of Germany’s 160 largest listed companies. As in previous years, the poll focussed on how credible and readily understandable IR department communications are, but investors were also asked to comment on, for example, annual reports and the quality of corporate websites.  More than 1700 individual responses in total were received from investors.
 
With 66.7 points (previous year: 56.0) K+S gained seventh place overall in the poll (previous year: 18th place) and 2nd place in the DAX (previous year: 5th place).

"Best Annual Reports" 
‘manager magazin’ competition
September 2009

5th place in the Dax (2008: 2nd place MDAX)
7th place in the overall evaluation (2008: 4th place)

In manager magazin’ s competition "The Best Annual Reports", the K+S annual report for 2008 scored 77.28 out of 100 points to be awarded 5th place in the Dax. In the overall evaluation consisting of 200 companies listed on the Dax, MDax, SDax, TecDax and EuroStoxx50, K+S came at number 7.

Each of the reports was judged on the basis of 330 criteria by independent assessors in accordance with the categories ‘content’, ‘design’ and ‘language’.

LACP Vision Awards Annual Report Competition
July 2009

42th place among more than 3,500 (2008: 3,151) submitted reports from 22 countries
Gold Award – Chemicals

In the internationally acclaimed "Vision Awards Annual Report Competition" organised by the League of American Communications Professionals (LACP), the K+S annual report for 2008 was awarded 97 out of 100 points. Overall, it thus came 42th among the more than 3,500 reports submitted from 22 countries. K+S won the second highest, Gold Award, in the "Chemicals" segment.

Capital 
Investor 
Relations 
Award 2009

Capital IR Award 2009
June 2009

8th place in the Dax

For the 13th time, the German business magazine Capital (issue 07/2009) and the German Association for Financial Analysis and Asset Management (DVFA) have evaluated the Investor Relations among the 197 most important German and European companies on the EuroStoxx50, Dax, MDax, TecDax and SDax. The "Capital Investor Relations Award" was based this year on a survey of almost 400 analysts of  nearly 300 European banks, funds and companies. They rated the quality of the Investor Relations departments in relation to four criteria: dedication to their target audience, transparency, track record and additional financial reporting. Five levels of assessment are possible for each of these. 

With 332.2 points, K+S came 8th in the Dax category.

K+S: 15th place in the DAX category 

At the gala dinner of the 12th annual DIRK conference in May 2009, Thomson Extel Survey, part of Thomson Financial, together with WirtschaftsWoche magazine and the DIRK - Deutscher Investor Relations Verband e.V. awarded the "German Investor Relations Award 2009" in the categories Dax, MDax, SDax and TecDax. Moreover. More than 800 experts from 300 buy-side and sell-side companies participated in the survey.

With 429 points, K+S came 15th in the Dax category (last year: 5th place in the MDAX with 372 points).

"Best Annual Reports" 
‘manager magazin’ competition
September 2008

2nd place in the MDax (2007: 3rd place)
4th place in the overall evaluation (2007: 12th place)

In manager magazin’ s competition "The Best Annual Reports", the K+S annual report for 2007 scored 78.50 out of 100 points to be awarded second place in the MDax, thus improving on last year’s third place (76.56 points). In the overall evaluation consisting of 200 companies listed on the Dax, MDax, SDax, TecDax and EuroStoxx50, K+S came eight places higher than last year at number 4.

Each of the reports was judged on the basis of 330 criteria by independent assessors in accordance with the categories ‘content’, ‘design’ and ‘language’.

LACP Vision Awards Annual Report Competition
July 2008

68th place among 3,161 (2007: 2,500) submitted reports from 21 countries
Gold Award – Chemicals

In the internationally acclaimed "Vision Awards Annual Report Competition" organised by the League of American Communications Professionals (LACP), the K+S annual report for 2007 was awarded 97 out of 100 points. Overall, it thus came 68th among the 3,161 reports submitted from 21 countries. K+S won the second highest, Gold Award, in the "Chemicals" segment.

Capital 
Investor 
Relations 
Award 2008

Capital IR Award 2008
June 2008

3rd place in the MDax

For the twelfth time, the German business magazine Capital (issue 10/2008 of 19th June) and the German Association for Financial Analysis and Asset Management (DVFA) have evaluated the Investor Relations among the 194 most important German and European companies on the EuroStoxx50, Dax, MDax, TecDax and SDax. The "Capital Investor Relations Award", which is supported by the world’s largest audit company, Deloitte, was based this year on a survey of almost 450 analysts of 250 European banks, funds and companies. They rated the quality of the Investor Relations departments in relation to four criteria: dedication to their target audience, transparency, track record and additional financial reporting. Five levels of assessment are possible for each of these. Acceptable Investor Relations starts at 300 points, good at 350 points, very good at 400 points and excellent at 450 points.

With 371.4 points, K+S came third among companies listed on the MDax (2007: 3th place).

German Investor Relations Award 2008
May 2008

K+S: 5th place in the MDAX category
Christian Herrmann: 3rd place in the category
"Best IR Manager MDax"

At the gala dinner of the 11th annual DIRK conference in May 2008, Thomson Extel Survey, part of Thomson Financial, together with WirtschaftsWoche magazine and the DIRK - Deutscher Investor Relations Verband e.V. awarded the "German Investor Relations Award 2008" in the categories Dax, MDax, SDax and TecDax. Moreover, for the first time awards were presented in the category “Best IR Manager” in the respective indexes. More than 900 experts from 275 buy-side and sell-side companies participated in the survey.

With 372 points, K+S came fifth in the MDax category (last year: 1st place). In the category "Best IR Manager MDax", Christian Herrmann, Head of Investor Relations, achieved third place (last year: 1st place).

"Best Annual Reports" 
‘manager magazin’ competition
September 2007

3rd place in the MDax

In manager magazin’ s competition "The Best Annual Reports", the K+S annual report for 2006 scored 76.56 out of 100 points to be awarded third place in the MDax, thus improving on last year’s fourth place (68.41points). In the group consisting of 200 companies listed on the Dax, MDax, SDax, TecDax and EuroStoxx50, K+S came seven places higher than last year at number 12.

Each of the reports was judged on the basis of 330 criteria by independent assessors for 15 hours and evaluated in accordance with the categories ‘content’, ‘design’ and ‘language’.

LACP Vision Awards Annual Report Competition
July 2007

30th place among 2,500 submitted reports from
21 countries
Competition Class Winner – Chemicals: Platinum
Category "Best Report Narrative": Bronze

In the internationally acclaimed "Vision Awards Annual Report Competition" organised by the League of American Communications Professionals (LACP), the K+S annual report for 2006 was awarded 97 out of 100 points. Overall, it thus came 30th among the 2,500 reports submitted from 21 countries. K+S won the highest, Platinum Award in the "Chemicals" segment; it won bronze for content, message clarity and information accessibility.

Capital 
Investor 
Relations 
Award 2007

Capital IR Award 2007
June 2007

3rd place in the MDax

For the eleventh time, the German business magazine Capital (issue 14/2007 of 21st June) and the German Association for Financial Analysis and Asset Management (DVFA) have evaluated the Investor Relations among the 194 most important German and European companies on the EuroStoxx50, Dax, MDax, TecDax and SDax. The "Capital Investor Relations Award", which is supported by the world’s largest audit company, Deloitte, was based this year on a survey of almost 450 analysts of 250 European banks, funds and companies. They rated the quality of the Investor Relations departments in relation to four criteria: dedication to their target audience, transparency, track record and additional financial reporting. Five levels of assessment are possible for each of these. Acceptable Investor Relations starts at 300 points, good at 350 points, very good at 400 points and excellent at 450 points.

With 431.2 points, K+S came third among companies listed on the MDax (2006: 5th place).

German Investor Relations Award 2007
May 2007

K+S: winner in the MDAX category
Christian Herrmann: winner in the category
"Best IR Manager MDax"

At the gala dinner of the 10th annual DIRK conference in May 2007, Thomson Extel Survey, part of Thomson Financial, together with WirtschaftsWoche magazine and the DIRK - Deutscher Investor Relations Verband e.V. awarded the "German Investor Relations Award 2007" in the categories Dax, MDax, SDax and TecDax. Moreover, for the first time awards were presented in the category “Best IR Manager” in the respective indexes. More than 650 experts from 290 buy-side and sell-side companies participated in the survey.
With 402 points, K+S came first in the MDax category (last year: 7th place). In the category "Best IR Manager MDax", Christian Herrmann, Head of Investor Relations, also achieved first place.