Producing an annual report to such consistently high standards is a company-wide endeavour.

The process is virtually continuous - as soon as the year's report is published, the company begins planning for the next year.

Internal reporting systems are designed to gather relevant information from each of the group's business units, subsidiaries and joint ventures in Hong Kong and throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

A dedicated team, including members from key departments, is formed each year to produce a high-quality report. The group also enlists support from professional design houses and translators.

CLP strives to meet its own goal of publishing its annual report within two months of announcing the company's final figures.

With the CLP Group's rapid expansion in Asia-Pacific and its diverse portfolio of business and facilities in the region, producing an annual report on such a tight schedule is a challenge.

'Everyone has to put in extra effort to make it happen,' Mr Tse said.

The goal is a report that not only discusses how the company performed in terms of discharging its responsibilities to shareholders, employees and customers but also offers clear, accurate and meaningful communications with its stakeholders.

'Our corporate culture is emphatic about accurately and openly disclosing business performance information - whether it is good news or bad, risks or opportunities,' he said.

By publishing corporate governance and social and environmental reports in tandem with the annual report, the company chose to squarely address these topical stakeholder issues.

One of the biggest challenges the company faced recently was the global shift to international accounting standards. 'Hong Kong-based companies need to adopt a number of new accounting standards and interpretations, which are rules-based, replacing traditional principles-based standards,' Mr Tse said.

Another was that CLP's diverse portfolio of business interests made reviewing and integrating the data and selecting the most important information to meet the interests of its shareholders 'a substantial undertaking', he said.

The growing importance of corporate governance has also led the Hong Kong stock exchange to require more rigorous disclosure from locally listed companies, adding to the information requirements.

Company secretary April Chan said the question-and-answer section between senior executives and stakeholders was one aspect that had helped the CLP report stand out.

'These candid exchanges not only offer insight, they clearly document our business directions, market prospects and strategies to realise our goals,' Ms Chan said.

She also cited the company's disclosure of its financial obligations, such as the debt of subsidiaries and affiliates, as well as a section on how the company managed risks.

Ms Chan said CLP was not a company to sit on its laurels, and winning the Best Report Award several times would not stop it from striving to improve further. CLP was making a conscious effort to benchmark its reports against those of a variety of businesses around the world.

'That process gives us a view far beyond the perspective of the utilities industry or the power sector, providing inspiration for new ways to refresh our approach and present information.'

Mr Tse said the company would continue to explore ways to strengthen and broaden disclosures in areas such as environmental performance.