THE National Annual Corporate Reports Award 1997 launched                                                                                             
yesterday will have a revised judging process to reflect the                                                                                          
growing importance of annual reports as a means of                                                                                                    
communication between companies and the public.                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                                      
Nacra organising committee chairman Abdul Samad Idris said the                                                                                        
new criteria will encourage more comprehensive disclosure                                                                                             
beyond the regulatory requirements, and will focus on the                                                                                             
effectiveness of communication.                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                                      
He said there would no longer be separate awards for                                                                                                  
accounting information and corporate information. The new                                                                                             
awards will recognise overall excellence in annual reporting.                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                                      
Three levels of awards will be presented for public listed                                                                                            
companies. These are Overall Excellence Awards, Industry                                                                                              
Excellence Awards and Presentation Awards. A Special Award for                                                                                        
Non-Listed Organisations will also be presented.                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                                      
Abdul Samad explained that the adjudication panel will use a                                                                                          
two-layered mechanism for the judging process.                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                                      
Firstly, all public listed companies' reports are subject to a                                                                                        
preliminary screening where they are judged on their                                                                                                  
qualitative and quantitative merits.                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                                      
Later, a process of detailed adjudication will be carried out                                                                                         
in two stages. In the first, reports will be marked within                                                                                            
industry groups. The annual report which achieves the highest                                                                                         
level of excellence in the industry group will win the                                                                                                
Industry Excellence Award.                                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                                      
Those which are nominated by the industry group adjudicators                                                                                          
for the Overall Excellence and Presentation Awards will be                                                                                            
subject to a second round of judging.  Nacra 1997 was launched                                                                                        
at the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange building by KLSE executive                                                                                         
chairman Datuk Nik Mohamed Din Nik Yusoff.                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                                      
Nik Mohamed Din said the annual report has become the most                                                                                            
important medium for communication between an organisation and                                                                                        
shareholders creditors, customers, employees and the mass                                                                                             
media by providing reliable indicators and factual information                                                                                        
on the organisation's financial performance, its prospects,                                                                                           
plans and management team.