NZOG website best IR communicator in NZX50

 
Media Advisory

Attn: Business and IT Reporters

Embargoed until 4 September 2009

NZOG website best IR communicator in NZX50

New Zealand Oil & Gas (NZOG) is the top communicator among New Zealand’s top 50 listed companies, according to this year’s Wired Best Investor  Website Awards (BIWA).

NZOG climbed five places on its 2008 result to score 88 out of 100.  Second-equal were Auckland International Airport and Port of Tauranga on 84 points.

Trailing the field was Ebos Group on 36 points, Michael Hill International on 41 and Mainfreight on 47.

It was a busy year online for listed companies. Sixteen NZX50 sites were fundamentally redesigned, up from 10 in 2008, while a further 10 had their navigation and/or graphic ‘look and feel’ revised.

The other marked change this year was the spread of scores. In 2008 the spread between first and last was 39 points, this year it was 52, suggesting that the best are getting better, and the worst are being left behind.

There has also been a general ‘lifting of the game’ among the leaders.

In 2008 only half of all revised sites scored better in the BIWA than in the previous year – in 2009 fully two thirds of the revised sites have improved, and over half of those have made the top 10.

“This shows New Zealand’s leading listed companies are taking online IR more seriously. Even with the economy in recession they see spending money online as a sound investment for future growth,” Wired Usability Consultant Bruce Russell said.

The BIWA promote best practice in investor relations based on listed companies’ use of the web - a significant and under-estimated factor in  investor relations performance.
          

The survey is conducted by Wired Internet Group and usability consultant Christchurch Polytech lecturer Bruce Russell and is endorsed by NZX. It examines how well a website communicates a company’s purpose, how well it helps users find content and the degree to which it enhances interaction between investors and the listed entity. 

Bruce Russell said new means of interactivity, from live web feeds to RSS and podcasting were continuing to ‘up the ante’ in what investors expect from listed companies.   

“The rate of change on the net means that leaving a site unimproved for more than twelve months is no longer an option for a company that’s serious about its investor relationships,” Mr Russell said.

Sites with no major improvements in the last twelve months scored on average five points fewer than last year, while there were six redesigned sites in the BIWA Top 10. Only two of these made the top twenty in 2008.

However, Mr Russell said it was telling that five companies scored significantly worse after redesigning their sites, through not adequately considering users’ needs in the process.

There was little sign of bigger companies producing better websites, he said.

The largest and most liquid listed companies were only just above average, with the NZX 15 averaging 66.2 points to the Top 50’s average of 66.1. Only three NZX15 companies made the BIWA Top 10.

“It seems having a big budget is not as important as a clear understanding of what investors and other customers want.”

Mr Russell said that at a time of uncertainty for investors, companies need to focus on attracting the attention and increasing the understanding of investors by considering their needs on line.

“New Zealand’s top companies have a tendency to focus their websites on marketing, burying their investor relations content.  

“This is despite international best practice suggesting that online marketing and investor relations should be separate but equally important strategies online.”

Usability is the recognised method of measuring a website’s efficiency in relaying information, its ability to engage its target audience and its effectiveness in eliciting the desired response.  In the case of listed companies, this equates to investor support.  

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