Best Practice Winners Announced

LONDON, November 27 - The Investor Relations Society was delighted to announce the winners of
the 2009 Investor Relations Best Practice Awards at a ceremony at the Royal
Hospital Gardens, Chelsea in London last night.

    The winning companies are:

      Best communication of strategy, performance and KPIs in the annual
      report
      Sponsored by Hugin (a Thomson Reuters Company)
      Winner: Morrisons

      Best communication of governance and risk in the annual report
      Sponsored by Bank of New York Mellon
      Winner: Marks and Spencer

      Best communication of corporate responsibility in the annual report
      Sponsored by Richard Davies Investor Relations
      Winner: BASF

      Most improved annual report

      Sponsored by Precision IR
      Winner: Powerflute

      Best-practice corporate website 2009
      FTSE 100
      Sponsored by Equiniti
      Winner: Imperial Tobacco

      FTSE 250
      Sponsored by Equiniti
      Winner: Go-Ahead Group

      Small Cap & AIM
      Sponsored by IR Magazine
      Winner: Laird

      International
      Sponsored by IR Magazine
      Winner: BASF

      Award for the most effective overall Annual Report (printed and online)
      FTSE 100
      Sponsored by Black Sun
      Winner: Tullow Oil

      FTSE 250
      Sponsored by Black Sun
      Winner: Provident Financial

      Small Cap and AIM
      Sponsored by Deutsche Bank
      Winner: May Gurney

      International
      Sponsored by Deutsche Bank
      Winner: BASF

    Also announced were the winners of the Thomson Reuters Extel
    Awards as follows:

      Best CFO at IR
      FTSE 100
      Winner: Colin Day, Reckitt Benckiser

      FTSE 250
      Winner: Tim Score, ARM Holdings

      Small Cap
      Winner: Allan Watson, Optos

      Best overall IR for a UK company
      FTSE 100
      Winner: BAE Systems

      FTSE 250
      Winner: ARM Holdings

      Small Cap (ex FTSE 350)
      Winner: Optos

Notes for editors:

The Investor Relations Society represents members working for
public companies to develop effective two way communication with the markets
and create a level playing field for all investors. It has almost 600 members
drawn both from the UK and overseas, including the majority of the FTSE 100
and much of the FTSE 250.

    For further information contact:
    The Investor Relations Society
    Michael Mitchell - General Manager +44(0)20-7379-1763

For further information contact: The Investor Relations Society, Michael Mitchell - General Manager, +44(0)20-7379-1763.