Asian Paints is the best small company for India : Asiamoney

Mumbai: Asiamoney, one of the leading finance magazines in Asia and a subsidiary of Euromoney, has adjudged Asian Paints the Best Small Company 2002 for India. (Small company implies companies with market capitalisation below $500 million [Rs 24,250 million.])

Asiamoney's 11^th annual Best Managed Companies across countries in the Asia region is based on a poll that is faxed to nearly 3,000 fund managers, chief investment officers and heads of research at fund management firms, insurance companies and brokerage houses in the Asia Pacific Region (including Australia and Japan), Europe and North America.

Based on the findings of the poll and internal research, the Best Small Company 2002 and the Best Managed Company 2002 for each country is decided. Asian Paints has been rated as the Best Small Company 2002 in India and Infosys has been adjudged as the Best Managed company 2002. In recognition of the achievement, Asian Paints will be felicitated by the publication at an awards dinner at the Ritz Carlton Millenia, Singapore, on 20 February 2003.

Says Asian Paints' vice-chairman and managing director Ashwin Dani: “We are delighted to be accorded this recognition from one of Asia's leading financial magazines. This is a reflection of our continuous process of being transparent and maintaining high standards of corporate governance. Wealth creation for the shareholder is important, but most important is transparency, which is very essential for any successful and respected organisation.“

Asian Paints' concerted effort towards creation of shareholder wealth is reflected in the consistent performance of the company over the last several years, both in terms of sales as well as profits. Further, Asian Paints' foreign institutional investor shareholding is around 18 per cent, which is the highest among all paint and fast-moving consumer goods manufacturers.

Asian Paints was recently ranked by Forbes Global Magazine, USA, among the '200 Best Under a Billion' companies in the world for 2002 and was also ranked among the top five companies in India for corporate governance in 2002 by The Asset, another leading financial magazine in Asia.