Kuala Lumpur, July 16, 2012

Nestlé (Malaysia) Berhad won the newly introduced Best CSR Initiatives Award.

The Who’s Who of Malaysia’s corporate sector gathered here tonight for the third annual The Edge Billion Ringgit Club (BRC) Corporate Awards. The event at a leading hotel was held to recognise and honour the country’s biggest and best-performing listed companies and was officiated by YB Senator Dato’ Sri Idris Jala, CEO of Performance Management and Delivery Unit (PEMANDU) in the Prime Minister’s Department.

A total of 30 awards were presented this evening. Tan Sri Azman Hashim, chairman of AmBank Group and Tan Sri Dato’ Dr. Tony Fernandes, group chief executive officer of AirAsia Bhd were named Value Creators: Malaysia’s Outstanding CEOs. Genting Bhd, one of Asia’s best-managed conglomerates, won the coveted Company of the Year Award. Nestlé (Malaysia) Berhad won the newly introduced Best CSR Initiatives Award.

"To qualify for membership in The Edge BRC in 2012, a company must have at least market capitalisation of RM1 billion. The previous membership criterion of RM1 billion in turnover for the immediate preceding year has been removed as part of a gradual tightening in criteria” said Datuk Tong Kooi Ong, executive chairman of The Edge Communications Sdn Bhd.

To qualify for membership in The Edge BRC in 2012, a company must have at least market capitalisation of RM1 billion.

“We have also introduced a multiplier for the Highest Growth in Profit Before Tax and Highest Return on Equity awards this year. This multiplier effect takes into account that it is relatively harder for larger companies to grow than smaller companies. The multiplier is a prelude to the introduction of risk-adjusted returns in 2013,” said Tong. He added that the sustainability of the success of a company is dependent on its corporate values, culture and brand promise and that these will be factored into subsequent awards.

Mr. Jeffrey Chew, Director and CEO of OCBC Bank (Malaysia) Berhad, the main sponsor of The Edge BRC gala dinner event, said "The Edge BRC has become a lot more exciting in 2012 with the inclusion of more stringent criteria. Congratulations to this year’s winners who are indeed the crème de la crème among an already exceptional group of performers in the business community. We at OCBC are very happy to be associated with companies that, despite the tough global environment, have excelled in their financial scorecards and at the same time still lived out their corporate conscience through well structured social responsibility activities".

In conjunction with The Edge BRC Corporate Awards gala dinner, PACE (Programme for After Class Enrichment) was launched. PACE is an initiative by The Edge Education Foundation to make learning fun, to reduce the school drop-out rate, to help students overcome the stigma of failure and to instil interest in education at the beginning of secondary school. This was done in consultation with Boston Consulting Group.

The full list of The Edge BRC members and award winners will be published in a special supplement in the July 23, 2012 issue of The Edge.