Installing women in the boardroom boosts company performance, a new study has suggested.

Blue-chip companies with at least one woman on the board have outperformed rivals with no women at the top table by 26% over the last six years, according to a Credit Suisse study. Companies with female directors outperform on share price, show a higher return on equity, and tend to have less debt and higher valuations, according to a global study by the bank’s research institute.

The difference made by women has been particularly noticeable during the financial crisis – in the middle of the decade when growth was strong, there was little difference in share-price performance between the two groups of companies. Since 2008, stocks with women on the board have strongly surged ahead.

Read More: Guardian