PROACTIVE AND OPEN COMMUNICATION WITH THE INVESTMENT COMMUNITY
We are cultivating a greater understanding of our digital transformation, as the Group leverages global opportunities to grow standalone digital businesses, and harnesses digitalisation to improve customer experience and raise productivity in our core operations. To help investors track the progress of the Group’s diverse operations, we provide extensive qualitative and quantitative disclosures.
During the financial year ended 31 March 2018, the management and Investor Relations (IR) team engaged more than 500 investors in 229 meetings and conference calls to discuss the Group’s business strategy, operational and financial performance and prospects. We also participated in local and overseas investor conferences and roadshows, covering Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, the US and Europe.
To give investors a better understanding of our business and operations, we hold an Investor Day annually. Last year’s event attracted close to 70 participants, who got to interact directly with the senior management of Singtel, Optus and our associates through small group presentations, as well as a question and answer session.
We continued to offer site visits to our business facilities. Our FutureNow Innovation Centre drew investors who were keen to learn about cutting-edge developments in areas such as cyber security, smart cities, data analytics and 5G applications. We also welcomed investors to our revamped flagship Singtel Shop at Comcentre, which is part of our omni-channel strategy to give customers a seamless experience whenever and wherever they interact with us.
Retail investors are an important part of our outreach efforts. We renewed our long-term sponsorship of the Securities Investors Association (Singapore) (SIAS) Investor Education Programme and leveraged the Singtel-SIAS dialogue to communicate our strategy and performance with retail shareholders. We also partnered with the Central Depository (CDP) to reach out to retail shareholders who were previously uncontactable and encouraged them to update their account particulars with the CDP. Retail investors are also welcome to contact us directly through email or telephone on any issues and concerns.
MAINTAIN LEAD IN CORPORATE GOVERNANCE, TRANSPARENCY AND INVESTOR RELATIONS
We continue to nurture and maintain strong links with sell-side research analysts and are well covered by more than 20 analysts based in Hong Kong, Malaysia, India, Singapore and the UK who issue regular reports. We monitor analyst, industry and media reports closely as part of our efforts to continuously improve disclosures and IR practices.
Each year, we commission an independent study to gather investor perceptions of our business. The study, comprising in-depth interviews with approximately 70 institutional investors and research analysts, gives our Board and management a better understanding of investors’ views and concerns. It also helps the IR team identify areas of investor focus, enabling us to tailor our communications and disclosures accordingly. In the latest study, Singtel continues to be recognised for its strong management, corporate governance, dividend policy and exposure to leading telcos in the emerging markets. While investors recognise the near-term challenges facing the telecoms sector, they believe we are competing from a position of strength.
Good corporate governance also plays a vital role in shaping investor perception of the integrity, transparency, accountability and efficiency of a company. We keep abreast of the latest developments and benchmark ourselves against best practices in key areas such as disclosure, board structure, shareholder rights and remuneration.
Besides corporate governance, sustainability is becoming increasingly important for investors. We are providing more disclosures on our sustainability initiatives and helping investors understand our material issues, policies and efforts in areas such as the environment and climate change, supply chain, social matters and human rights. We have also endorsed the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures voluntary framework and are working towards meeting its standards.
The Singtel IR website is the primary source for corporate information, financial data and significant business developments for the investment community. All new, material announcements are made available on the IR website immediately after they are released to the Singapore Exchange to ensure fair, equal and prompt dissemination of information. In addition, we constantly review the level of disclosure, to align it with global best practices and take into account new business initiatives.
During our quarterly financial results announcements, we issue a comprehensive set of materials, including detailed financial statements, management discussion and analysis and presentation slides. Our management responds to questions from investors and analysts over a conference call on the day of the results announcement and a transcript of the conference call is made available on the Singtel IR website the next work day.
SHAREHOLDER INFORMATION
As at 31 March 2018, Temasek Holdings (Private) Limited remained our largest shareholder, with 52% of issued share capital. Other Singapore shareholders held approximately 12%. In terms of geographical distribution, the US/Canada and Europe accounted for approximately 12% and 10% of issued share capital respectively.
