Abitibi-Consolidated wins gold for its corporate reporting

Dec 02, 2004. /Lesprom Network/. Abitibi-Consolidated Inc. has received the 2004 Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA) Corporate Reporting Award for "Excellence for Corporate Reporting in Forest Products". The prestigious CICA Awards honor the best corporate reporting models in Canada and judge the country's top companies in 13 industry sectors, using the following criteria: annual reporting, corporate governance disclosure, electronic disclosure and sustainable development reporting. The award ceremony was held on December 1, 2004 at the Toronto Hilton Hotel. The CICA deemed Abitibi-Consolidated's 2003 Annual Report to be a document "providing everything you need in an annual report." The Company was commended for its "Our Business" section, comprehensive and well-segmented financial statements, good MD&A discussion of market conditions and softwood trade disputes, well quantified environmental disclosure and its supplementary disclosures description of alignment with TSX corporate governance guidelines. The judging committee also recognized the Company's web site as being "well organized and containing a good depth of information" as well as being easy to navigate. "We are very proud of our open disclosure policy and practices," said John W. Weaver, President and CEO. "This award reflects the hard work and dedication of all the employees involved in the annual reporting process." This year's CICA Corporate Reporting Award Judging Committee was comprised of 65 voluntary judges representing the CICA, the Canadian Investor Relations Institute (CIRI), the Toronto Society of Financial analysts (TSFA), the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD) and the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD). Abitibi-Consolidated is a global leader in newsprint and uncoated groundwood (value-added groundwood) papers as well as a major producer of wood products, generating sales of CAN$5.4 billion in 2003. The Company owns or is a partner in 27 paper mills, 22 sawmills, 5 remanufacturing facilities and 1 engineered wood facility in Canada, the U.S., the UK, South Korea, China and Thailand. With over 15,000 employees, excluding its PanAsia joint venture, Abitibi-Consolidated does business in approximately 70 countries. Responsible for the forest management of 17.5 million hectares of woodlands, the Company is committed to the sustainability of the natural resources in its care. Abitibi-Consolidated is also the world's largest recycler of newspapers and magazines, serving 16 metropolitan areas in Canada and the United States and 130 local authorities in the United Kingdom, with 14 recycling centres and approaching 20,000 Paper Retriever(R) and paper bank containers. The CICA, together with the CA institutes/ordre, represents approximately 68,000 CAs and 8,000 students in Canada and Bermuda. The CICA conducts research into current business issues and supports the setting of accounting and assurance standards for business, not-for-profit organizations and government. It issues guidance on control and governance, publishes professional literature, develops continuing education programs and represents the CA profession nationally and internationally.