Newsroom

Smart Integrated Reporting Methodology in the Spotlight

In the early 2000s Smart Media redefined corporate reporting standards by publishing the first edition of its Smart Integrated Reporting Methodology^TM. The Methodology aligns with GRI Standards and the International Integrated Reporting Framework, which was formulated in 2012, while providing insights on value creation and capital formation.

Over the past seven years, Smart Media has produced over 60 Integrated Reports for its local and international clients. Many of the company’s clients have been guided by the Smart Integrated Reporting Methodology^TM. The second edition of the publication was released in August 2017 and is now available in the form of an eBook

Read more...

Smart Media Partners with IIRC for their Integrated Report 2017

The International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) announced the release of its Integrated Annual Report 2017. Titled, “Breaking Through” the report is an assessment of the organisation’s journey so far. It also focuses on the key breakthrough moments that signals the breadth of support integrated reporting has received from businesses around the world.

Commenting on the report, the CEO of the IIRC, Richard Howitt states that the report demonstrates that, “Integrated reporting is breaking through to become a staple of the reporting landscape worldwide.” Having partnered with the IIRC in the production of its integrated annual report, the Chairman of Smart Media The Annual Report Company, Dr. Vijith Kannangara further stated that, “Report preparers often seek help with communicating their story while meeting the need to be concise and complete. The answer to resolving this apparent paradox is to provide stakeholders with a choice of channels in a manner that best suits them through a combination of on-line HTML, print, mobile or video. The IIRC’s Integrated Report 2017 does just that.”

Read more...

Spotlight Presentation by Dr. Kannangara at the MENA Roadshow 2018

Dr. Vijith Kannangara, Chairman of Smart Media the Annual Report Company was invited to speak at the third MENA Roadshow. His presentation focused on ‘Bringing out the hidden worth of a business through integrated reporting’. The presentation illustrated the ways in which integrated reporting facilitates the value creation process of a business by taking into consideration not only its financial value but more importantly non-financial value creators. Dr.Kannangara was also a part of a panel discussion that took place immediately after the spotlight presentation. The discussion tackled investor relations development in the MENA region.

The MENA Roadshow was brought to Dubai following two successful editions previously held in London. The event which was both an international conference and exhibition was held on the 29th and 30th of April at the Grosvenor House Hotel. The event united all market stakeholders to facilitate greater international investment and dialogue in the MENA capital markets.

Mainstreaming Integrated Reporting in the Middle East - Radio Interview

Listeners tuned in to Dubai Eye’s Business Breakfast on 12th Dec 2017 were given a brief introduction to Integrated Reporting by Richard Howitt, CEO of the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC). Howitt was meeting business heads and financial regulators in Dubai and Saudi Arabia as a part of the initiative to Mainstream integrated Reporting in the region. The project was supported by Alex Mac-Donald Vitale, Chairman of the Middle East Investor Relations Association (MEIRA) and Dr. Vijith Kannangara, Chairman of Smart Media The Annual Report Company.

During the short radio interview, Howitt explains Integrated Reporting while stressing the benefits the reporting standard can bring to corporates in the Middle East.

Listen to the interview

Mainstreaming Integrated Reporting - An Interview

In December 2017, Dr Vijith Kannangara, Chairman of Smart Media The Annual Report Company joined Richard Howitt CEO of the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) on a visit to Dubai and Saudi Arabia with the aim of Mainstreaming Integrated Reporting in the MIddle East. They were joined by Alex MacDonald-Vitale, Chairman of the Middle East Investor Relations Association (MEIRA) for a comprehensive discussion on this hot topic.

As part of the programme Richard Howitt met Frank Kane - an award-winning business journalist based in Dubai - for a luncheon meeting. In the course of the discussion Howitt called upon more companies in the Middle East to adopt Integrated Reporting. He stated that this principles-based reporting framework is helping companies around the world understand how the exterior environment impacts the company and vice versa. Howitt drew examples of corporates from the Middle East who have already commenced their Integrated Reporting journeys and calls upon others to join them.

Read more...

Smart Media sponsors IR Magazine Awards & Conference in Singapore

On the 4th of December 2015, Smart Media The Annual Report Company sponsored The IR Magazine Awards & Conference (South East Asia 2015) at the Singapore Stock Exchange. The conference focused on issues relating to investor relations (IR), corporate governance, shareholder needs and the role of senior management in IR. Speaking at the event, Founder and Chairman of Smart Media The Annual Report Company Dr Vijith Kannangara said, "Rather than approaching the annual report with a confused objective – unsure of whether it should satisfy the statutory obligation alone or be a compelling marketing tool – one should be very clear about its role. It is of paramount importance that an annual report be clear, concise and complete."

The conference was followed by an exclusive lunchtime awards ceremony at the Singapore Stock Exchange to honour companies and individuals in the ASEAN region who excelled at communicating with investors and analysts. The awards are significant because the winners were selected by the investors and analysts themselves.

Smart Media - Exclusive Sponsor of The 7th Middle East Investor Relations Society Awards

The 7th Middle East Investor Relations Society Conference and Awards were held on the 16th of September 2015 at The Address Dubai Mall, attracting a record 250 registrants. Smart Media The Annual Report Company was the exclusive sponsor of the reception and awards dinner.

The conference is the only event dedicated to IR in the region, and is inclusive of the Awards. Influential market players from various companies, investors and regulatory bodies were a few of those present at the event. The Awards acknowledged the continuous efforts of professionals who helped uphold and improve IR standards in the region, and also aimed to encourage collaboration of Middle East market participants while providing them with an extensive networking platform.

Smart Media sets a new record at the International ARC Awards

On the 26th of September 2013, Smart Media The Annual Report Company clinched the Platinum Achievement Award for the third time, for being the company to win the highest number of awards on behalf of their clients. The company won a record 94 ARC awards including 25 Golds and 7 Grands. The latter are the Best of the Golds across all categories and have been popularly dubbed the ‘Oscars’ of annual reports. Founder and Chairman Vijith Kannangara, and Chief Officers Raja Senanayake, Jayantha Nagendran and Suwini Amarasinghe of Smart accepted the award at the gala presentation that took place at the Trump Soho Hotel in New York City.

The bag of seven Grands included the Best of Cover Design, Best of Written Text, Best of Printing and Production, Best of Non-Profit Organizations - President’s Letter, Grand Award for the Best of Sri Lanka, Grand Award for the Best Online Annual Report from across all countries outside the USA and the Grand Award for the Green/Environmentally Sound Annual Report.

Read more...

Smart Media is a certified carbon neutral company

Since 2012, Smart Media The Annual Report Company has been completely carbon neutral under Scopes 1 and 2 as well as selected sources under Scope 3 of the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard by offsetting its own operational emissions with Carbonfund.org, an organisation which provides guidance in an innovative and flexible way to help calculate, reduce and offset the carbon footprint of a company.

In 2008, Smart encouraged a client to voluntarily publish their carbon footprint in the annual report. Since then, the number of client companies reporting their GHG emissions in annual reports has grown, supported by Smart’s consultancy assistance which includes training, development of data entry forms and computation of GHG emissions in accordance with the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard.

“Our strategy was to reduce our GHG emissions as much as possible and to offset the rest thereafter,” said Dr. Vijith Kannangara, Chairman, Smart Media The Annual Report Company. He also added that the reason for Smart’s careful selection of Carbonfund.org is due to their excellent track record and vast clientèle worldwide.

Read more...

Smart Annual Reports: An Interview

The Reporting Times, a trade publication released by the Centre for Corporate Reporting in Germany, conducted an interview with Dr. Vijith Kannangara, Chairman of Smart Media The Annual Report Company. In the interview which was published in 2013, Dr. Kannangara revealed the secrets to the success of Smart Media as a company that solely focuses on annual reports. He also elaborated on existing trends in the industry, his perceptions towards awards and the future of corporate reporting.

In response to a question on establishing Smart Media as a globally recognised annual report company, Dr. Kannangara stated, “We do business in nine countries. And that’s perhaps more locations than most have gone with annual reports. We still have a long way to go...”

Read more...

Global Entrepolis@Singapore sponsored by Smart Media

Heralding its entry into Singapore, Smart Media The Annual Report Company became a sponsor of the Global Entrepolis@Singapore Business Leader’s Summit which was held from the 23rd - 25th of October 2012 at the Resorts World Sentosa.

This leading business leaders' forum is an annual business platform which brings together a community of regional business leaders, entrepreneurs, high net-worth individuals and policy makers for a series of highly focused discussions. The forum covers the latest outlook on global markets, business model trends, innovative ideas and new approaches to growth in an ever-shifting economic landscape.

Read more...

Chairman of Smart Media delivers keynote speech at the exhibition of Best Annual Reports of the World 2012

At the convention preceding the exhibition of the Best Annual Reports of the World, Dr. Vijith Kannangara Chairman of Smart Media The Annual report Company delivered a keynote address on "Stakeholder Reporting: Best practices on the other side of the world," and on the Smart Media Integrated Reporting Methodology^TM that was used to produce Asia's first integrated annual report.

The convention was held on the 22nd of October while the exhibition took place from the 23rd to the 28th of October. Both events were held at the Museum of Arts and Crafts, Hamburg, Germany.

Smart Media presents Asia’s first integrated annual report

Smart Media produced Asia’s first integrated annual report which was presented at the International Integrated Reporting Conference of the Confederation of Asian and Pacific Accountants in October 2012. The event was held at the Water’s Edge, Battaramulla.

Jonathan Labrey, the Director of the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) delivered the keynote speech titled "An Overview of Integrated Reporting". This was followed by two panel sessions, lead by well-known business and accounting specialists from Australia, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the United Kingdom.

Yet another Red Dot Design Award for Smart Media

Smart Media won its third Red Dot in 2012, for the People’s Bank annual report in celebration of their golden anniversary in 2011. The awards ceremony took place in July 2012, at the Aalto-Theatre in Essen, Germany.

The Red Dots are a set of international product and communication design prizes awarded annually by Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen (Nordrhein Design Centre), Germany. Red Dot Awards have been presented since 1955 for achievements in the fields of corporate design, advertising, interactive media and sound design.

Read more...

Partnering with MEIRA

With its proven international delivery model and the requisite support on the ground, Smart Media The Annual Report Company’s business has expanded across nine countries over the last two decades. The Middle East region has long been a familiar working environment for the Company, with many close relationships with key brands especially in the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council).

The Middle East Investor Relations Association (MEIRA) is an independent non-profit organisation dedicated to promoting the Investor Relations (IR) profession and industry standards in corporate governance. The mission of MEIRA is to enhance the reputation, efficiency and attractiveness of the Middle East capital markets.

MEIRA’s Partners, including Smart Media The Annual Report Company, consist of a small group of institutions, that have a specific interest in sponsoring the Society and its initiatives.

Link to MEIRA's Service Provider Directory

Read more...