The 20 Top Companies award winners are chosen through a combination of historic financial performance and the views of the FM's team of investment writers.
The financial performance of all listed companies has been assessed by the Bureau of Financial Analysis. Using their figures, we first eliminated all companies below R1bn in market cap, to focus the assessment on large companies with significant investment potential. We then weighed various financial performance indicators: earnings-per-share growth and internal rate of return were measured over five years to ensure that our Top Companies were long-term performers. Those two factors counted 40% each. The remaining 20% represented the most recent year's return on equity to ensure the Top Companies were current performers.
We took the top 40 companies, based on financial performance, and assessed each one. The FM team examined a number of factors in their assessment : corporate governance, empowerment commitment, strength of management, investability (value buy and tradability), industry and company profit prospects. In recognition of the importance of black empowerment on the current business agenda, it was upweighted in this year's deliberations.
Finally, our maths was checked by auditors Gobodo.
