IR Global Rankings Announces its Latin American Winners

SAO PAULO, Brazil, April 2, 2008 /PRNewswire/ -- The winners of the 2008 Investor Relations Global Rankings for Latin America were announced on Monday, March 31, at a ceremony in Sao Paulo. Created in 1999 by MZ Consult, a financial communications and investor relations consulting firm, the IRGR has become a corporate Oscar, identifying the best IR trends and practices and recognizing those companies with the most outstanding investor communications. The tenth edition of the awards featured 160 companies from all over the world competing in the following categories: IR website, financial disclosure, corporate governance and online annual report, each of which was subject to a technical evaluation and a separate popular vote among members of the financial community, the so-called POP+.

"Transparent communication has become a priority in the IR market. Nowadays it is not enough just to attract investors; you have to maintain their trust at all times, minimizing their perception of the company's risk," maintains Rodolfo Zabisky, CEO of MZ Consult.

In the TOP 5 Latin American IR website category, Brazilian companies occupied four of the five positions: America Latina Logistica - ALL (Bovespa: ALLL11); Bradesco, also a winner in its sector NYSE: BBD; Unibanco NYSE: UBB and GOL NYSE: GOL. The fifth winner was Homex OTC: DHMXF.PK, a Mexican construction company. TAM NYSE: TAM completed the Brazilian quintet. Among small cap companies, Brazil's TOTVS (Bovespa: TOTS3) was the winner.

In the POP+ category, investors and financial analysts elect the best IR website, team and program, in addition to the best corporate governance and financial disclosure practices. This year, Petrobras NYSE: PBR swept the board in Latin America, while PDG Realty (Bovespa: PDGR3) was Brazil's small cap winner.

Bradesco NYSE: BBD won Latin America's best online annual report and also received the global award for its sector. Petrobras NYSE: PBR presented the best report in the oil and gas sector worldwide.

TOTVS (Bovespa: TOTS3), Perdigao NYSE: PDA, Masisa OTC: MYSZY.PK; ICA NYSE: ICA and Enersis NYSE: ENI, also the winner in its sector, led the corporate governance category, which reflects the most transparent practices of information management and investor disclosure. Brazil's leading 5 companies in this category also included Natura (Bovespa: NATU3), CPFL NYSE: CPL and TAM NYSE: TAM.

Finally, in the financial disclosure category, the TOP 5 companies in Latin America were Bradesco NYSE: BBD; GOL NYSE: GOL; Braskem NYSE: BAK; Companhia Siderurgica Nacional - CSN NYSE: SID and Terna Participacoes (Bovespa: TRNA11). GOL, Bradesco and Terna also came first in their respective sectors.

"This is our tenth edition and we had a record number of participants from all over the world. The unqualified global success of an award created in Brazil exemplifies the exceptional ability of all those involved in IR in this country," declared Zabisky.

The award ceremony in Sao Paulo was accompanied by an investor relations seminar promoted by MZ, in which IR professionals, analysts, investors and lawyers discussed issues related to the capital market in Brazil and abroad, global trends in IR, corporate governance, financial disclosure and online shareholder meetings.

About IR Global Rankings: Solid communication with the investment community has become a key priority for investor relations and corporate governance professionals in recent years, driven by the strong belief that stock prices and risk perception can be managed, the implementation of Fair Disclosure and other new regulations, and the growing importance of transparency for earning and maintaining investor confidence. The IR Global Rankings and Awards annual survey -- supported by NYSE Euronext, KPMG, Arnold & Porter, Demarest & Almeida, The Bank of New York Mellon, Bloomberg and PR Newswire -- is the most comprehensive auditing and ranking system for IR websites, corporate governance practices and financial disclosure procedures. Based on extensive proprietary research of publicly held companies and investors, and supported by input from independent auditors, corporate governance and legal experts, MZ's methodology is highly detailed, transparent and fully accessible to all participants. The annual IR Global Rankings and Awards Survey has grown each year since its inception in 1999 (http://www.irglobalrankings.com).