Go-Ahead named Europe's most trustworthy company - by GMI Ratings
The Go-Ahead Group has been ranked first in a list of top 50 companies with high scores for trustworthy accounting and governance behaviour.
In an article in financial publication Forbes Go-Ahead tops the list developed by ranking, proprietary ratings provider and investment adviser GMI Ratings.
In a review of more than 4,000 publically traded companies with market caps above $500 million GMI Ratings reviewed accounting and governance behaviours and a range of factors including high-risk events, revenue and expense recognition methods and bankruptcy risk as indicators of a company’s credibility.
The 50 listed companies had the highest average scores for trustworthy behaviour over the four financial quarters ended 30 September 2013. The Go-Ahead Group scored 99 out of 100 for current Accounting and Governance Risk (AGR) and 96.5 for its average AGR over the four financial periods leading up to 30 September 2013.
Head of Investor Relations at Go-Ahead, Holly Gillis, said:
“It’s excellent that Go-Ahead has scored so highly on the GMI Ratings’ list. We place a great importance on effective, open and transparent reporting and use a variety of communication channels – from our Annual Report to social media - to make sure we are able to provide valuable business insight for our shareholders and other key stakeholders”
It’s not the first time that Go-Ahead’s financial reporting has been recognised. Last year it received the ‘excellence in reporting in the FTSE250’ category at the PWC Building Public Trust Awards for its 2012 Annual Report and Accounts.
Explaining the thinking behind the ratings produced by GMI and speaking to Forbes publication GMI James Kaplan, director of GMI Rating explains that the ratings are aimed at being helpful to investors:
“Honest financial reporting doesn’t necessarily indicate a solid-gold investment, but it does mean that for better or worse, what the investor sees is what they’ll get from the company.”
