PwC unveils the winning companies of the Building Trust Awards 2019

KUALA LUMPUR, 2 July 2019 – PwC Malaysia once again recognised Malaysian public-listed companies that are demonstrating significant efforts to build stakeholder trust at its Building Trust Awards 2019 Ceremony.

Malayan Banking Berhad was named Winner of the 2019 Awards while Sime Darby Berhad came in 2nd place and IHH Healthcare Berhad in 3rd place at a black tie dinner event attended by business leaders and board members at The Majestic Hotel Kuala Lumpur.

An integral part of PwC’s Building Trust programme, the Building Trust Awards takes into account how companies communicate value creation, as well as how they are perceived to build trust through the lens of their stakeholders (including their customers, employees and the public).

This is PwC Malaysia’s 3rd Awards since its inception in 2015, and the first in Malaysia that measures trust, beyond the financials of the companies assessed. No nominations or submissions are accepted. An independent judging panel (see Notes section below) makes the final decision on the winners at a face-to-face meeting.

3 Special Mentions were given in recognition of efforts demonstrated in specific areas of the methodology:^[1]

• PwC’s Integrated Reporting <IR> framework benchmarking analysis – Malayan Banking Berhad
• PwC Malaysia’s Trust Public Poll and Trust Analytics – Sime Darby Berhad
• Iclif’s Leadership Trust Survey - IOI Corporation Berhad
  
  

Sridharan (Sri) Nair, PwC Malaysia Managing Partner said: “Businesses are being tested like never before on how they’re earning public trust and confidence, as fraud and corporate misdeeds rise to alarming proportions globally and locally. We can’t allow these issues to be normalised nor can we allow ourselves as businesses to be disempowered. Building trust not only deserves a spot on the boardroom agenda. It needs to be at the forefront of executive meetings, investment and business decisions, and communicated to all levels of the organisation as part of your culture.

Our Building Trust Awards are a continuation of our journey to shine a light on businesses that are making commendable efforts to build trust among their stakeholders. It is a platform to inspire business leaders to champion trust as an asset that can be measured, nurtured and protected for long term gains. This has been our aspiration since our Awards were conceived in 2015, inspired by the PwC Purpose ‘To build trust in society and solve important problems’.

We would like to congratulate the winning companies and finalists for making good progress in their trust-building journey. This recognition sends an important signal to the public, that regardless of the environment or circumstances around these companies, building trust needs to prevail. It is a positive indicator that these companies are on the right track in building a brand for Corporate Malaysia, enabled by trust.”

The Awards, Special Mentions and Finalist acknowledgements were presented by three of the judges from the Judging panel:

1. Sir David Tweedie (Chairman of the Board of Trustees, International Valuation Standards Council; Past Chairman, International Accounting Standards Board)
2. Yang Berbahagia Tan Sri Dr. Jemilah Mahmood (Under Secretary General, Partnerships, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies)
   
3. Nadiah Wan (Chief Executive Officer, Thomson Hospital Kota Damansara; Group Chief Executive Officer, TMC Life Sciences Berhad)

Sir David said:

“It is evident that Malaysian companies are investing time to build trust and this is reflected in the results. My fellow judges and I agreed that the companies that were a cut above the rest were close contenders on several fronts.

The winning companies clearly articulated their business model in their corporate reporting, with detailed explanations of how their strategic priorities and market outlook would change in the short, medium and long term. Their positive trust perception in the marketplace, as evidenced by the publicly available conversations gleaned on these companies via web-based sources, and the public poll responses, reaffirms the importance of consistent stakeholder engagement around the fast changing business landscape.

A key point during our deliberation at the Judges' Meeting, was the importance of leadership trust. This is a new dimension to the Awards methodology this year, gauging how employees feel about their leadership’s efforts in building trust. My fellow judges and I unanimously agreed that leadership trust is an essential component in measuring trust perception among companies, and should be assessed in determining the Awards winners in the future.”

Sri continued:
“While the Awards have certainly helped us to amplify the message on trust as a business imperative over the years, it is critical for the companies themselves to join us in the dialogue on building trust.

Business leaders set the tone in cultivating a culture where people can speak up and confront the elephant in the room in the name of trust. I am looking forward to seeing more companies occupying news headlines and other public forums for their efforts in building trust.”

ENDS

^[1] See appended visual for more details on the methodology