Wednesday, October 14, 2009
PFS Program’s 13th Regional Survey – Reporting on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by the Largest Listed Companies in 11 CEE Countries
Today, the Partners for Financial Stability (PFS) Program publishes its 13th semi-annual Survey of Reporting on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by the Ten Largest Listed Companies (by market capitalization) in 11 Central and Eastern European (CEE) Countries. PFS Program Interns Kamila Andrukiewicz (Poland), Aleksa Mihajlovic (Serbia), Irena Petkovska (Macedonia) and Anna Wolska (Poland) conducted the survey, under the supervision of PFS Program Director Geoffrey Mazullo, from August 1 through September 30, 2009.
Companies in Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia were surveyed for the 13th time; companies in Hungary and Poland were surveyed for the 12th time; and companies in Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania were surveyed for the 11th time. Moreover, a seventh analysis of peer companies (the ten largest listed companies by market capitalization) in Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) as well as Ukraine allows for ongoing benchmarking with these emerging market peers.
PFS Program surveys analyze the annual reports and websites of the ten largest listed companies in the above-mentioned 11 CEE countries in order to document the current disclosure practices of this “blue-chip” peer group and identify best practice among the peer group. Whereas the universe of companies surveyed may change over time due to changes in a company’s market capitalization, the semi-annual surveys of reporting on CSR represent a snapshot of this peer group’s CSR disclosure practices on a given day twice a year. Furthermore, by analyzing disclosures in both annual reports and websites, the surveys track the timing of the publication of the annual report and the related yet separate issue of periodic disclosure, namely, how blue-chip companies keep their websites data-rich and up-to-date. The surveys enable companies to benchmark their disclosure practices against peers on a national, industry and regional basis.
This survey analyzes companies’ disclosures in English (in the English-language annual report and on the English-language company website) during the time period August 1 – September 16, 2009 on the following three topics: corporate governance, environmental policy and social policy. The record date for the disclosures is September 16, 2009.
On September 16, 2009 all ten companies surveyed in all CEE countries except Croatia, Romania and Slovenia have an English-language website. 96% of the 110 CEE companies surveyed have a 2008 or 2007 English-language annual report online on the same record date.
In marked contrast to all 12 previous surveys, this edition of the survey documents increased disclosure in almost all areas analyzed. In 27 of the 30 categories surveyed, disclosure increased. In some categories, the increase was significant. Disclosure of information on shareholder rights increased in the annual report to 69%, from 47% in April 2009 and on company websites to 64%, from 51% in April 2009. Disclosure of information on environmental considerations in supply chain management increased in the annual report to 24%, from 19% in April 2009 and on company websites to 39%, from 30% in April 2009. In these and many other categories, new thresholds were attained. In three categories of social policy, disclosure in the annual report decreased.
45 of the 110 CEE companies surveyed (41%) issue a stand-alone English-language environmental, social and governance (ESG) report, compared with 41 companies (37%) in April 2009 and 28 companies (25%) in September 2008. This is the first time that the 40% threshold has been exceeded, and represents continuation of an ongoing trend during the past two years.
It also demonstrates that gap between best-practice in extra-financial reporting in CEE blue-chip companies is closing vis-à-vis peers in Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC). In BRIC, 19 companies (47.5%) issue a stand-alone English-language ESG report in September 2009. The number is unchanged since April 2009, and represents a slight increase vis-à-vis 18 companies in September 2008. As a group, BRIC blue-chips generally outperform CEE peers; however, the gap continues to narrow and a few CEE countries approach the disclosure levels found in BRIC. One Ukrainian company issues a stand-alone English-language ESG report in September 2009.
Survey findings include the following:
- 97% of the 110 CEE companies surveyed have an English-language website on the record date of September 16, 2009, compared with 95% in April 2009, 96% in September 2008, 96% in April 2008, 94.5 % in September 2007, 94% in April 2007, 94% in September 2006, 87% in April 2006, 89% in September 2005 and 82% in April 2005. In comparison, 100% of the BRIC companies surveyed and 60% of the Ukrainian companies surveyed have an English-language website.
- 96% of the 110 CEE companies surveyed have either a 2008 or 2007 English-language annual report online on the record date of September 16, 2009 compared with 92% in April 2009, 94% in September 2008, 87% in April 2008, 81% in September 2007, 84% in April 2007, 71% in September 2006, % in April 2006 and % in September 2005. In comparison, 100% of companies in BRIC and 20% in Ukraine have a 2008 or 2007 English-language annual report available online.
- 79% of the 110 CEE companies surveyed disclose employee development/benefits policies in the (2008 or 2007) annual report available online on September 16, 2009. This is the highest percentage recorded since the first survey was conducted in August 2003 and the first time that the 75% threshold was exceeded.
- 77 of the 110 CEE companies surveyed (70%) disclose implementation of a corporate governance code in the (2008 or 2007) annual report available online as of September 16, 2009, compared with 57 companies (52%) in April 2009 and 60 companies (54.5%) in September 2008. This is the first time since the survey was first conducted that disclosure of information regarding compliance with a corporate governance code in the annual report available online reached the 70% threshold.
- 55% of the CEE companies surveyed disclose information on compliance with a corporate governance code on their website, compared with 41% in April 2009 and 42% in September 2008. This is the first time since the survey was first conducted that more than 50% of the CEE companies surveyed disclose information regarding compliance with a corporate governance code on their website.
- 53% of the 110 CEE companies surveyed report on environmental performance in the (2007 or 2008) annual report available online on September 16, 2009. This is the highest percentage recorded since the first survey was conducted in August 2003 and the first time that the 50% threshold was exceeded. The percentage was 43% in April 2009, 34.5% in September 2008, 30% in April 2008, 33% in September 2007, 14% in April 2007, 25% in September 2006, 18% in April 2006 and 22% in September 2005.
- 45 of the 110 CEE companies surveyed (41%) issue a stand-alone English-language environmental, social and governance (ESG) report, compared with 41 companies (37%) in April 2009 and 28 companies (25%) in September 2008. This is the first time that the 40% threshold has been exceeded, and represents continuation of an ongoing trend during the past two years.
Note: The survey consists of the following documents: a report of the survey findings presenting data aggregated by country; a database of individual data by company for the ten largest listed companies in each of the 11 CEE countries; and a separate database of individual data by company for the ten largest listed companies in BRIC and Ukraine.
A list of companies with stand-alone English-language ESG reports is an appendix to the survey and is published here as a separate document.
To download the survey, the databases and a separate list of companies that publish a stand-alone English-language ESG report, please click on the links below:
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
PFS Program’s 17th Regional Survey - Investor Relations Online: Survey of Websites of the Ten Largest Listed Companies in 11 CEE Countries
Today, the PFS Program publishes its 17th semi-annual regional survey: Investor Relations Online - Survey of Websites of the Ten Largest Listed Companies (by market capitalization) in 11 Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. PFS Program Interns Piotr Liberski (Poland) and Irena Petkovska (Macedonia) as well as PFS Program Research Assistant Igor Solodovnik conducted the survey from July 1 through August 17, 2009.
In this edition of the survey, disclosure of detailed governance information increased in all categories surveyed, except in the local-language website category, where a slight decrease was recorded.
91% of the companies surveyed provide a list of management online. This is the largest percentage recorded since the surveys began in 2001 and represents a slight increase vis-à-vis 84% in February 2009, 88% in August 2008 and 90% in February 2008. 68% of the companies surveyed provide additional information about management online; this is also the largest percentage recorded since the first survey, representing an increase vis-à-vis 61% in February 2009, 64% in August 2008 and 63% in February 2008. 89% of the companies surveyed provide a list of board members online, compared with 85% in February 2009, 91% in August 2008 and 87% in February 2008. 64% of the companies surveyed provide additional information about board members online; this is also a record high percentage, compared with 56% in February 2009, 61% in August 2008 and 52% in February 2008.
Investor Relations Online: Survey of Websites of the Ten Largest Listed Companies in 11 CEE Countries analyzes the websites of the ten largest listed companies in Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovak Republic and Slovenia. For the seventh time, the survey also analyzes companies in BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) as well as Ukraine in order to compare the online disclosure practices of CEE listed companies with peers in other emerging markets.
The survey analyzes the English-language websites and annual reports of the ten largest listed companies in the above-mentioned CEE countries in order to document the current disclosure practices of this ‘blue-chip’ peer group. Although the market capitalization of companies changes over time, the semi-annual surveys represent a snapshot of disclosure practices of the blue-chip peer group on a given day twice a year. Since the definition of the survey universe has remained the same since the first survey, the surveys provide time-series data for CEE blue-chip companies and thus enable the identification of online disclosure trends as well as best practice within the peer group.
The survey provides current data as of August 17, 2009 and comparisons with the 16 previous surveys, conducted in February 2009, August 2008, February 2008, August 2007, February 2007, August 2006, February 2006, August 2005, February 2005, August 2004, February 2004, August 2003, February 2003, August 2002, February 2002 and August 2001.
The survey contains information compiled in the following groups and sub-groups:
- Current data on 110 companies in 11 CEE countries;
- Separate data on 80 companies in eight CEE countries that joined the European Union (EU) on May 1, 2004;
- Separate data on 30 companies in Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania;
- Comparisons of the data from this current survey with data from the previous 16 conducted every August and February since August 2001; and
- Separate data on 40 companies in Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) as well as 10 companies in Ukraine.
Survey results include the following:
Websites: In eight of the 11 CEE countries surveyed, each of the ten largest listed companies has a local-language website. In Estonia and Slovakia, nine of the ten companies surveyed and in Czech Republic seven of the ten companies surveyed have a local-language website. The three listed companies in the Czech Republic that do not have a local-language website are “foreign” companies listed on the Prague Stock Exchange. Each of the ten companies surveyed in Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Slovakia has an English-language website. 90% of the companies surveyed in Bulgaria, Romania and Slovenia as well as 80% of the companies surveyed in Croatia have an English-language website.
Information on Management: As noted above, 91% of the companies surveyed provide a list of management online. This is the largest percentage recorded since the surveys began in 2001 and represents a slight increase vis-à-vis 84% in February 2009, 88% in August 2008 and 90% in February 2008. 68% of the companies surveyed provide additional information about management online; this is also the largest percentage recorded since the first survey, representing an increase vis-à-vis 61% in February 2009, 64% in August 2008 and 63% in February 2008.
Information on Board Members: 89% of the companies surveyed provide a list of board members online, compared with 85% in February 2009, 91% in August 2008 and 87% in February 2008. 64% of the companies surveyed provide additional information about board members online; this also represents a record high percentage and a significant increase, compared with 56% in February 2009, 61% in August 2008 and 52% in February 2008.
Best Practice: Since 2004, the survey includes recommendations on the ideal corporate website and compares CEE companies with the parameters of this ideal. On August 17, 2009 64 of the 110 companies surveyed in CEE (58%) disclose information in all of the categories analyzed in the basic PFS Program survey: local-language website; English-language website; list of management; list of board members; additional information on management; and additional information on board members. These 64 companies were examined according to best practice parameters. (In February 2009 52 of the 110 companies surveyed (47%) disclosed the above-mentioned basic information, compared with 56 of the 110 companies surveyed (51%) in August 2008.) On August 17, 2009 29 of the 110 companies surveyed in CEE (26%) provide all of the “ideal” recommended information: Five companies provide information directly on their company website; and 24 companies provide information indirectly through an annual report available online.
Comparisons with BRIC and Ukraine: The largest listed companies in BRIC disclose more information in this survey than in the previous survey. In all categories surveyed, companies in BRIC outperform peers in the eight CEE countries that joined the EU in 2004. The largest gaps exist in providing additional information on management and on board members. However, in contrast, the most transparent of the largest listed companies in CEE slightly outperform their peers in BRIC in terms of providing detailed governance information online, either on the company website or in an annual report available online. Also, in several CEE markets the results are impressive. In August 2009 all ten companies surveyed in Poland provide information in each category surveyed; in February 2009 all ten companies surveyed in Hungary provided information in each category surveyed. These are the first such cases since the first survey was conducted in 2001.
- Each of the companies surveyed in BRIC (100%) has a local-language website. In the CEE-11 countries, 95% of the companies surveyed have a local-language website. (In eight of the 11 CEE countries surveyed, each of the 10 companies surveyed has a local- language website. In Estonia and Slovakia, nine of the ten companies surveyed have a local-language website. In the Czech Republic, seven of the ten companies surveyed have a local-language website.) In Ukraine, eight of the ten companies surveyed have a local-language website.
- Each of the companies surveyed in BRIC (100%) has an English website, compared with 95.5% in CEE-11, 99% in the eight CEE countries that joined the EU in 2004 and 50% in Ukraine.
- 97.5% of the companies surveyed in BRIC provide a list of management online, compared with 91% in the CEE-11 and 94% in the eight CEE countries that joined the EU in 2004. In Ukraine 20% of the companies surveyed provide a list of management online.
- 90% of the companies surveyed in BRIC provide additional information on management online, compared with 68% in the CEE-11, 76% in the eight CEE countries that joined the EU in 2004 and 10% in Ukraine.
- 100% of the companies surveyed in BRIC provide a list of board members online, compared with 89% in the CEE, 92.5% in the eight CEE countries that joined the EU in 2004 and 20% in Ukraine.
- 95% of the companies surveyed in BRIC provide additional information on board members online, compared with 64.5% in CEE-11, 74% in the eight CEE countries that joined the EU in 2004 and 10% in Ukraine.
To download the survey, a presentation of survey results and the company database, please click on the links below:
Friday, May 8, 2009
PFS Program’s 12th Regional Survey – Reporting on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by the Largest Listed Companies in 11 CEE Countries
Today, the Partners for Financial Stability (PFS) Program publishes its 12th semi-annual Survey of Reporting on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by the Ten Largest Listed Companies (by market capitalization) in 11 Central and Eastern European (CEE) Countries. PFS Program Intern Rafal Nagadowski (Poland) and PFS Program Research Assistant Igor Solodovnik conducted the survey from February 16 through April 15, 2009.
Companies in Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia were surveyed for the 12th time; companies in Hungary and Poland were surveyed for the 11th time; and companies in Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania were surveyed for the tenth time. Moreover, a sixth analysis of peer companies (the ten largest listed companies by market capitalization) in Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) as well as Ukraine allows for ongoing benchmarking with these emerging market peers.
PFS Program surveys analyze the annual reports and websites of the ten largest listed companies in the above-mentioned 11 CEE countries in order to document the current disclosure practices of this “blue-chip” peer group and identify best practice among the peer group. Whereas the universe of companies surveyed may change over time due to changes in a company’s market capitalization, the semi-annual surveys of reporting on CSR represent a snapshot of this peer group’s CSR disclosure practices on a given day twice a year. Furthermore, by analyzing disclosures in both annual reports and websites, the surveys track the timing of the publication of the annual report and the related yet separate issue of periodic disclosure, namely, how blue-chip companies keep their websites data-rich and up-to-date. The surveys enable companies to benchmark their disclosure practices against peers on a national, industry and regional basis.
This survey analyzes companies’ disclosures in English (in the English-language annual report and on the English-language company website) during the time period February 16 – April 15, 2009 on the following three topics: corporate governance, environmental policy and social policy. The record date for the disclosures is April 15, 2009.
This edition of the survey documents a significant increase in the number of CEE blue chip companies issuing stand-alone English-language environmental, social and governance (ESG) reports; 41 companies now issue such a report, compared with 28 companies in September 2008. In marked contrast to all 11 of the previous surveys, disclosure of corporate governance information remained relatively stable whereas disclosure of environmental and social data increased, reflecting incremental increases in almost all countries. More companies provide information on supply chain management both in annual reports and on company websites, compared with the previous survey published in October 2008. Disclosure of information about compliance with labor standards, health and safety policy and listed employment policy also increased; here too the increase in disclosure in both annual reports and company websites was seen in companies in almost all countries.
In BRIC, 19 companies issued a stand-alone English-language ESG report in April 2009, compared with 17 in September 2008. In particular, there was more disclosure of information about compliance with a corporate governance code and employment policy. In other areas, disclosures remained roughly the same or decreased slightly. As a group, BRIC blue-chips generally outperform CEE peers; however, the gap continues to narrow and a few CEE countries approach the disclosure levels found in BRIC.
Survey findings include the following:
- 95% of the 110 CEE companies surveyed have an English-language website on the record date of April 15, 2009, compared with 96% in September 2008, 96% in April 2008, 94.5 % in September 2007, 94% in April 2007, 94% in September 2006, 87% in April 2006, 89% in September 2005 and 82% in April 2005. In comparison, 100% of the BRIC companies surveyed and 90% of the Ukrainian companies surveyed have an English-language website.
- 92% of the 110 CEE companies surveyed have either a 2008 or 2007 English-language annual report online on the record date of April 15, 2009 compared with 94% in September 2008, 93% in April 2008, 89% in September 2007, 85% in April 2007, 71% in September 2006, 78% in September 2005 and 65% in August 2004. In comparison, 100% of companies in BRIC and 30% in Ukraine have a 2008 or 2007 English-language annual report available online.
- 56% of the 110 CEE companies surveyed disclose information on employment policy in the annual report available online on April 15, 2009, compared with 27% in September 2008. 45% of the companies surveyed disclose this information on their website in April 2009; compared with 25% in September and April 2008.
- 55 of the 110 CEE companies surveyed (50%) disclose their health and safety policy in the (2007 or 2008) annual report available online on April 15, 2009, compared with 38 companies (35%) in September 2008. 41 of the companies surveyed (37.2%) disclose this information on the company website in April 2009, compared with 36% in September 2008.
- 45% of the 110 CEE companies surveyed disclose the information about labor standards in the annual report available online on April 15, 2009. This is a significant improvement compared with 19% in September 2008, 11% in April 2008, 9% in September 2007, 15% in April 2007 and 14% in September 2006. 32% of the companies surveyed disclose compliance with labor standards on their website in April 2008, whereas 22-23% of companies disclosed this information on the company website in September 2008, April 2008 and September 2007. In April 2007 only 15% of companies disclosed this information online.
- 41 of the 110 CEE companies surveyed (37%) publish an English-language stand-alone ESG report online on the record date of April 15, 2009. This is a significant improvement vis-à-vis 28 companies (26%) in September 2008.
- 21 of the 110 CEE companies surveyed (19%) disclose information on the integration of environmental considerations in supply chain management in the annual report available online on April 15, 2009, whereas on September 15 2008 only six (5%) did so. 33 of the companies surveyed (30%) disclose this information on their website in April 2009, compared with 15.4% in September 2008, 17% in April 2008, 16% in September 2007 and 26% in April 2007.
Note: The survey consists of the following documents: a report of the survey findings presenting data aggregated by country; a database of individual data by company for the ten largest listed companies in each of the 11 CEE countries; and a separate database of individual data by company for the ten largest listed companies in BRIC and Ukraine.
A list of companies with stand-alone English-language ESG reports is an appendix to the survey and is published as a separate document.
To download the survey, the databases and a separate list of companies that publish a stand-alone English-language ESG report, please click on the links below:
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
PFS Program’s 16th Regional Survey - Investor Relations Online: Survey of Websites of the Ten Largest Listed Companies in 11 CEE Countries
Today, the PFS Program publishes its 16th semi-annual regional survey: Investor Relations Online - Survey of Websites of the Ten Largest Listed Companies (by market capitalization) in 11 Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. PFS Program Research Assistant Igor Solodovnik conducted the survey from January 15 through February 28, 2009.
In this edition of the survey, disclosure of detailed governance information decreased slightly in all categories surveyed. Thus, the positive trends observed in 2008 have not been sustained.
84% of the companies surveyed provide a list of management online, compared with 88% in August 2008 and 90% in February 2008. 61% of the companies surveyed provide additional information about management online, compared with 64% in August 2008 and 63% in February 2008. 85.5% of the companies surveyed provide a list of board members online, compared with 91% in August 2008 and 87% in February 2008. 56% of the companies surveyed provide additional information about board members online, compared with 61% in August 2008 and 52% in February 2008.
Investor Relations Online: Survey of Websites of the Ten Largest Listed Companies in 11 CEE Countries analyzes the websites of the ten largest listed companies in Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovak Republic and Slovenia. For the sixth time, the survey also analyzes companies in BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) as well as Ukraine in order to compare the online disclosure practices of CEE listed companies with peers in other emerging markets.
The survey analyzes the English-language websites and annual reports of the ten largest listed companies in the above-mentioned CEE countries in order to document the current disclosure practices of this ‘blue-chip’ peer group. Although the market capitalization of companies changes over time, the semi-annual surveys represent a snapshot of disclosure practices of the blue-chip peer group on a given day twice a year. Since the definition of the survey universe has remained the same since the first survey, the surveys provide time-series data for CEE blue-chip companies and thus enable the identification of online disclosure trends as well as best practice within the peer group.
The survey provides current data as of February 15, 2009 and comparisons with the 15 previous surveys, conducted in August 2008, February 2008, August 2007, February 2007, August 2006, February 2006, August 2005, February 2005, August 2004, February 2004, August 2003, February 2003, August 2002, February 2002 and August 2001.
The survey contains information compiled in the following groups and sub-groups:
- Current data on 110 companies in 11 CEE countries;
- Separate data on 80 companies in eight CEE countries that joined the European Union (EU) on May 1, 2004;
- Separate data on 30 companies in Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania;
- Comparisons of the data from this current survey with data from the previous 15 conducted every August and February since August 2001; and
- Separate data on 40 companies in Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) as well as 10 companies in Ukraine.
Survey results include the following:
Websites: In ten of the 11 CEE countries surveyed, each of the ten largest listed companies has a local-language website. In Czech Republic eight of the ten companies surveyed have a local-language website. Each of the ten companies surveyed in Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia has an English-language website. 90% of the companies surveyed in Bulgaria and Estonia, 80% in Croatia and 70% in Romania have an English-language website.
Information on Management: As noted above, the percentage of companies surveyed that provide a list of management online decreased to 84% in February 2009, from 88% in August 2008 and 90% in February 2008. 61% of the companies surveyed provide additional information about management online. This represents a slight decrease from the August 2008 survey when 64% of the companies surveyed disclosed this information, the largest percentage recorded since the surveys began in 2001. 63% of the companies surveyed disclosed this information in February 2008, compared with 59% in August 2007 and 53% in February 2007.
Information on Board Members: 85% of the companies surveyed provide a list of board members online, compared with 91% in August 2008 and 87% in February 2008. 56% of the companies surveyed provide additional information about board members online, compared with 61% in August 2008 and 52% in February 2008.
Best Practice: Since 2004, the survey includes recommendations on the ideal corporate website and compares CEE companies with the parameters of this ideal. On February 16, 2009 52 of the 110 companies surveyed in CEE (47%) disclose information in all of the categories analyzed in the basic PFS Program survey: local-language website; English-language website; list of management; list of board members; additional information on management; and additional information on board members. These 52 companies were examined according to best practice parameters. (In August 2008 56 of the 110 companies surveyed (51%) disclosed the above-mentioned basic information.)
Comparisons with BRIC and Ukraine: The largest listed companies in BRIC also disclose slightly less information in this survey than in the previous survey. Companies in BRIC generally outperform peers in the eight CEE countries that joined the EU in 2004; however, in two categories (English-language website and list of supervisory board members) companies in the eight CEE countries outperform peers in BRIC. The Ukrainian companies surveyed disclose less information than their peers in both BRIC and CEE; however, a slight improvement was recorded vis-à-vis the previous survey.
- Each of the companies surveyed in BRIC (100%) has a local language website. In the CEE-11 countries, 98% of the companies surveyed have a local language website. (In ten of the 11 CEE countries surveyed, each of the 10 companies surveyed has a local language website. In Czech Republic, eight of the ten companies surveyed have a local language website.) In Ukraine, each of the ten companies surveyed has a local language website.
- 95% of the companies surveyed in BRIC have an English website, compared with 94% in CEE-11, 99% in the eight CEE countries that joined the EU in 2004 and 70% in Ukraine.
- 98% of the companies surveyed in BRIC provide a list of management online, compared with 84% in the CEE-11, 86% in the eight CEE countries that joined the EU in 2004 and 40% in Ukraine.
- 87.5% of the companies surveyed in BRIC provide additional information on management online, compared with 61% in the CEE-11, 67.5% in the eight CEE countries that joined the EU in 2004 and 20% in Ukraine.
- 90% of the companies surveyed in BRIC provide a list of board members online, compared with 85.5% in the CEE-11, 91% in the eight CEE countries that joined the EU in 2004 and 40% in Ukraine.
- 85% of the companies surveyed in BRIC provide additional information on board members online, compared with 56% in CEE-11, 65% in the eight CEE countries that joined the EU in 2004 and 20% in Ukraine.
To download the survey, a presentation of survey results and the company database, please click on the links below:
Thursday, October 9, 2008
PFS Program’s 11th Regional Survey – Reporting on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by the Largest Listed Companies in Eleven CEE Countries
Today, the Partners for Financial Stability (PFS) Program publishes its 11th semi-annual Survey of Reporting on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by the Ten Largest Listed Companies (by market capitalization) in 11 Central and Eastern European (CEE) Countries. This edition of the survey was co-financed by DWS Investments (Deutsche Bank Group). PFS Program Assistant Magdalena Grabowska, PFS Program Intern Tomasz Pieczyk (Poland), PFS Program Intern Nikola Smolcic (Croatia) and PFS Program Research Assistant Igor Solodovnik conducted the survey from July 1 through September 30, 2008.
Companies in Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia were surveyed for the 11th time; companies in Hungary and Poland were surveyed for the tenth time; and companies in Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania were surveyed for the ninth time. Moreover, a fifth analysis of peer companies (the ten largest listed companies by market capitalization) in Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) as well as Ukraine allows for ongoing benchmarking with these emerging market peers.
PFS Program surveys analyze the annual reports and websites of the ten largest listed companies in the above-mentioned 11 CEE countries in order to document the current disclosure practices of this “blue-chip” peer group and identify best practice among the peer group. Whereas the universe of companies surveyed may change over time due to changes in a company’s market capitalization, the semi-annual surveys of reporting on CSR represent a snapshot of this peer group’s CSR disclosure practices on a given day twice a year. Furthermore, by analyzing disclosures in both annual reports and websites, the surveys track the timing of the publication of the annual report and the related yet separate issue of periodic disclosure, namely, how blue-chip companies keep their websites data-rich and up-to-date. The surveys enable companies to benchmark their disclosure practices against peers on a national, industry and regional basis.
This survey analyzes companies’ disclosures in English (in the English-language annual report and on the English-language company website) during the time period July 1 – September 15, 2008 on the following three topics: corporate governance, environmental policy and social policy. The record date for the disclosures is September 15, 2008.
This edition of the survey documents a higher level of online disclosure of corporate governance information, continuing the trend over the past five years. More information is also disclosed in the area of social policy, compared with the previous survey published in April 2008. Disclosure of information about environmental performance and environmental standards as well as energy and water use increased, albeit from still low levels; significant progress remains to be made by most companies in disclosing detailed environmental data.
Overall, companies in BRIC outperform CEE peers in terms of the availability of English-language websites and annual reports as well as specific disclosures in all three areas. For example, 80% of the BRIC companies surveyed disclose compliance with a corporate governance code in the annual report, compared with 54% in CEE. 65% of the BRIC companies surveyed disclose information about company-specific code of business conduct/code of ethics in the annual report, compared with 16% in CEE. In general, BRIC companies also provide more information on social policy and environmental policy. However, the gap in all three areas is narrowing. Due to the lack of a number of drivers, Ukrainian companies lag behind both BRIC and CEE peers in all areas. However, the number of Ukrainian companies with English-language annual reports and websites continues to increase as does the amount of information disclosed in all three categories.
Survey findings include the following:
- 96% of the 110 CEE companies surveyed have an English-language website on the record date of September 15, 2008, compared with 96% in April 2008, 94.5 % in September 2007, 94% in April 2007, 94% in September 2006, 87% in April 2006, 89% in September 2005 and 82% in April 2005. In comparison, 100% of the BRIC companies surveyed and 70% of the Ukrainian companies surveyed have an English-language website.
- 94% of the 110 CEE companies surveyed have a 2006/2007 English-language annual report online on the record date of September 15, 2008 compared with 100% in BRIC and 30% in Ukraine.
- 71% of the 110 CEE companies surveyed disclose information on employee development/benefits in their annual reports available online. This is a significant increase over the 64% recorded in the previous four surveys.
- Nine Polish, eight Slovene, eight Hungarian, six Estonian, five Czech, four Latvian, three Bulgarian companies, one Croatian, one Lithuanian and one Romanian company disclose information regarding compliance with a corporate governance code on the company website. Ten Estonian, nine Slovene, seven Polish, seven Czech, seven Lithuanian, six Slovak, five Bulgarian, four Hungarian, three Croatian and two Romanian companies disclose this information in the annual report. This is the first time since the survey was first conducted that more than 50% of the CEE companies surveyed disclose information regarding compliance with a corporate governance code in the annual report.
- 36% of the 110 CEE companies surveyed disclose information on listed health and safety policy on their website as of September 15, 2008, compared with 32% in April 2008, 30% in September 2007, 26% in April 2007, 21% in September 2006 and 12% in April 2006.
- 34% of the 110 CEE companies surveyed disclose information on environmental performance in annual reports available on their website on September 15, 2008 compared with 30% in April 2008, 33% in September 2007, 13% in April 2007, 25% in September 2006 and 18% in April 2006, 22% in September 2005, 24% in April 2005 and 27% in August 2004.
- 28 of the 110 CEE companies surveyed (26%) publish a stand-alone English-language ESG report as of September 15, 2008. (This represents the same percentage as in the most recent survey, conducted in April 2008.) Of the 28 reports published in CEE on the current record day, 25 (89%) use recognized standards and eight (28%) include a third-party assurance statement. A list of companies that publish a stand-alone environmental, social and governance (ESG) report online in English may be found as a separate document below.
- 17 of the 40 BRIC companies surveyed (42.5%) publish a stand-alone English-language ESG report. Of the 17 reports published in BRIC, 15 (88%) use recognized standards and ten (59%) provide a third-party assurance. No Ukrainian company produces such a report as of the record date of September 15, 2008.
Note: The survey consists of the three following documents: a report of the survey findings presenting data aggregated by country; a database of individual data by company for the ten largest listed companies in each of the 11 CEE countries; and a separate database of individual data by company for the ten largest listed companies in BRIC and Ukraine.
To download the survey, the database and a separate list of companies that publish an English-language stand-alone ESG report, please click on the links below:
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
PFS Program’s 15th Regional Survey - Investor Relations Online: Survey of Websites of the Largest Listed Companies in Eleven CEE Countries
Today, the PFS Program publishes its 15th semi-annual Survey of Online Investor Relations of the Ten Largest Listed Companies (by market capitalization) in eleven Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries.” PFS Program Assistant Magdalena Grabowska and PFS Program Intern Nikola Smolcic (Croatia) conducted the survey from July 1 through August 31, 2008.
In this edition of the survey, disclosure of detailed govenance information in almost all categories remains at or reaches its highest level since the first survey was conducted in August 2001. This trend has been observed since February 2006 and may be viewed as sustainable.
91% of the companies surveyed provide a list of board members online, compared with 87% in February 2008, 82% in August 2007 and 81% in February 2007 as well as August 2006. This is the largest percentage recorded since the first survey and the first time that more than 90% of the companies surveyed provide a list of board members online. 61% of the companies surveyed provide additional information about board members online. This is also the largest percentage recorded since the first survey and the first time that more than 60% of the companies surveyed provide this information online. It represents a significant increase over the most recent survey (52% in August 2007) and previous surveys (51% in August 2007 and 40% in February 2007).
Investor Relations Online: Survey of Websites of the Largest Listed Companies in CEE analyzes the websites of the ten largest listed companies in Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovak Republic and Slovenia. For the fifth time, the survey also analyzes companies in BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) as well as Ukraine in order to compare the online disclosure practices of CEE listed companies with peers in other emerging markets.
The survey analyzes the English-language websites and annual reports of the ten largest listed companies in the above-mentioned CEE countries in order to document the current disclosure practices of this ‘blue-chip’ peer group. Although the market capitalization of companies changes over time, the semi-annual surveys represent a snapshot of disclosure practices of the blue-chip peer group on a given day twice a year. Since the definition of the survey universe has remained the same since the first survey, the surveys provide time-series data for CEE blue-chip companies and thus enable the identification of online disclosure trends as well as best practice within the peer group.
The survey provides current data as of August 15, 2008 and comparisons with the 14 previous surveys, conducted in February 2008, August 2007, February 2007, August 2006, February 2006, August 2005, February 2005, August 2004, February 2004, August 2003, February 2003, August 2002, February 2002 and August 2001.
Survey results include the following:
Websites: In ten of the 11 CEE countries surveyed, each of the ten largest listed companies has a local-language website. In Czech Republic eight of the ten companies surveyed have a local-language website. Each of the ten companies surveyed in Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia has an English-language website. 80% of the companies surveyed in Croatia and 70% in Romania have an English-language website.
Information on Management: 88% of the companies surveyed provide a list of management online; 64.5% provide additional information on management. Disclosure in the former category decreased slightly (2%) since the last survey whereas the latter represents a record high since the first survey was conducted and a slight increase vis-à-vis February 2008 (63%) and August 2007 (59%).
Information on Board Members: 91% of the companies surveyed provide a list of board members online and 61% provide additional information on board members. Each category increased to a higher new record since the first survey was conducted and to new thresholds above 90% and 60% respectively. Disclosure in the latter category represents a significant increase from 52% in February 2008, 51% in August 2007, 40% in February 2007, 36% in August 2006 and 41% in February 2006.
Best Practice: Since 2004, the survey includes recommendations on the ideal corporate website and compares CEE companies with the parameters of this ideal. This component of the survey identifies best practice and enables CEE companies to benchmark their disclosure against peers in the region, other emerging markets and industry best practice. Here also, the time-series data identifies online disclosure trends.
On August 15, 2008 56 of the 110 companies surveyed in CEE (51%) disclose information in all of the categories analyzed in the basic PFS Program survey: local-language website; English-language website; list of management; list of board members; additional information on management; and additional information on board members. This is the first survey in which over 50% of the companies surveyed provide all of the basic information analyzed. On February 15, 2008 51 of the 110 companies surveyed in CEE (46%) disclosed information in all of the basic categories analyzed in the survey. On August 15, 2007 47 of the 110 CEE companies surveyed (43%) disclosed information in all of the basic categories analyzed in the survey. Therefore, over the past year a slight improvement has been documented in each edition of the survey.
Comparisons with BRIC and Ukraine: The largest listed companies in BRIC equal or outperform their CEE peers in every category. However, the gap continues to narrow. Furthermore, when companies in BRIC are compared with peers in the eight CEE countries that joined the EU in 2004, the difference between the peer groups is much smaller. The Ukrainian companies surveyed disclose less information than their peers in both BRIC and CEE; however, improvements are discernible over time. Detailed comparisons include the following:
- Each of the companies surveyed in BRIC has a local language website. In ten of the 11 CEE countries surveyed, each of the companies surveyed has a local language website. In Czech Republic, eight of the ten companies surveyed have a local language website. In Ukraine, nine of the ten companies surveyed have a local language website.
- In BRIC, all of the companies surveyed have an English website, compared with 95.5% in CEE-11, 100% in the eight CEE countries that joined the EU in 2004 and 70% in Ukraine.
- 97.5% of the companies surveyed in BRIC provide a list of management online, compared with 88% in the CEE-11 and 91% in the eight CEE countries that joined the EU in 2004. In Ukraine 40% of the companies surveyed provide a list of management online.
- 87.5% of the companies surveyed in BRIC provide additional information on management online, compared with 64.5% in the CEE-11, 70% in the eight CEE countries that joined the EU in 2004 and 50% in Ukraine.
- All of the companies surveyed in BRIC provide a list of board members online, compared with 91% in the CEE-11, 97.5% in the eight CEE countries that joined the EU in 2004 and 30% in Ukraine.
- 95% of the companies surveyed in BRIC provide additional information on board members online, compared with 61% in CEE-11, 70% in the eight CEE countries that joined the EU in 2004 and 10% in Ukraine.
The survey contains information compiled in the following groups and sub-groups:
- Current data on 110 companies in eleven CEE countries;
- Separate data on 80 companies in eight CEE countries that joined the European Union (EU) on May 1, 2004;
- Separate data on 30 companies in Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania;
- Comparisons of the data from this current survey with data from the previous 14 conducted every August and February since August 2001; and
- Separate data on 40 companies in Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) as well as 10 companies in Ukraine.
To download the survey, a presentation of survey results and the company database, please click on the links below:
Thursday, May 8, 2008
PFS Program’s tenth Regional Survey – Reporting on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by the Largest Listed Companies in Eleven CEE Countries
Today, the Partners for Financial Stability (PFS) Program publishes its tenth semi-annual Survey of Reporting on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by the Ten Largest Listed Companies (by market capitalization) in 11 Central and Eastern European (CEE) Countries. This edition of the survey was co-financed by DWS Investments (Deutsche Bank Group). PFS Program Intern Dominik Grodzki (Poland), PFS Program Assistant Magdalena Grabowska and PFS Program Research Assistant Igor Solodovnik conducted the survey from March 1 through April 30, 2008.
Companies in Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia were surveyed for the tenth time; companies in Hungary and Poland were surveyed for the ninth time; and companies in Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania were surveyed for the eighth time. Moreover, a fourth analysis of peer companies (the ten largest listed companies by market capitalization) in Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) as well as Ukraine allows for ongoing benchmarking with these emerging market peers.
PFS Program surveys analyze the annual reports and websites of the ten largest listed companies in the above-mentioned 11 CEE countries in order to document the current disclosure practices of this “blue-chip” peer group and identify best practice among the peer group. Whereas the universe of companies surveyed may change over time due to changes in a company’s market capitalization, the semi-annual surveys of reporting on CSR represent a snapshot of this peer group’s CSR disclosure practices on a given day twice a year. Furthermore, by analyzing disclosures in both annual reports and websites, the surveys track the timing of the publication of the annual report and the related yet separate issue of periodic disclosure, namely, how blue-chip companies keep their websites data-rich and up-to-date. The surveys enable companies to benchmark their disclosure practices against peers on a national, industry and regional basis.
This survey analyzes companies’ disclosures in English (in the English-language annual report and on the English-language company website) during the time period March – April 2008 on the following three topics: corporate governance, environmental policy and social policy. The record date for the disclosures is April 15, 2008.
This edition of the survey documents a generally higher level of online disclosure of corporate governance information, continuing the trend over the past five years. Slightly more information is also disclosed in the area of social policy, compared with the previous survey published in September 2007. Disclosure of information about environmental policy has increased on company websites; however, significant progress remains to be made in disclosing information on environmental policy in the annual report.
Overall, companies in BRIC outperform CEE peers in terms of the availability of English-language websites and annual reports as well as specific disclosures in all three areas. In the field of corporate governance, the most significant difference concerns disclosure of information regarding compliance with a corporate governance code and a company-specific code of business conduct/code of ethics in both the website and annual report. In general, BRIC companies also provide more information on social policy and environmental policy. Due to the lack of a number of drivers, Ukrainian companies lag behind both BRIC and CEE peers in all areas. However, the number of Ukrainian companies with English-language websites has increased steadily over the past two years.
29 of the 110 CEE companies surveyed (26%) provide a stand-alone environmental, social and governance (ESG) report online in English on the record date of April 15, 2008. This represents a significant improvement over the most recent survey and continuation of an ongoing trend: 22 of the companies surveyed (20%) published such a report in September 2007, compared with 19 companies (17%) in April 2007 and 17 companies (15%) in September 2006. A list of companies that publish a stand-alone environmental, social and governance (ESG) report online in English may be found as a separate document below.
Survey findings include the following:
• 96% of the 110 CEE companies surveyed have an English-language website on the record date of April 15, 2008, compared with 94.5 % in September 2007, 94% in April 2007, 94% in September 2006, 87% in April 2006, 89% in September 2005 and 82% in April 2005. In comparison, 100% of the BRIC companies surveyed and 70% of the Ukrainian companies surveyed have an English-language website.
• 87% of the 110 CEE companies surveyed have a 2006/2007 English-language annual report online on the record date of April 15, 2008 compared with 100% in BRIC and 30% in Ukraine.
• Nine Slovene, eight Polish, eight Hungarian, seven Estonian, four Bulgarian, four Czech, four Latvian companies, one Croatian, one Lithuanian and one Romanian company disclose information regarding compliance with a corporate governance code on the company website. Nine Slovene, eight Estonian, seven Polish, six Czech, six Lithuanian, four Croatian, four Hungarian, three Bulgarian, three Slovak, two Romanian and one Latvian company disclose this information in the annual report.
• 64% of the 110 CEE companies surveyed disclose information on employee development/benefits on their website. This result has remained constant at 64% for the past four surveys.
• 24% of the 110 CEE companies surveyed disclose information on energy and water use on their website, compared with 17% in September 2007, 17% in April 2007, 21% in September 2006, 18% in April 2006, 20% in September 2005, 20% in April 2005 and 23% in August 2004.
• 29 of the 110 CEE companies surveyed (26%) publish a stand-alone English-language ESG report as of April 15, 2008. Of the 29 reports published in CEE, 27 (93%) use recognized standards and eight (28%) include a third-party assurance statement.
• 17 of the 40 BRIC companies surveyed (42.5%) publish a stand-alone English-language ESG report. Of the 17 reports published in BRIC, 14 (82%) use recognized standards and ten (59%) provide a third-party assurance. No Ukrainian company produces such a report as of the record date of April 15, 2008.
Note: The survey consists of the three following documents: a report of the survey findings presenting data aggregated by country; a database of individual data by company for the ten largest listed companies in each of the 11 CEE countries; and a separate database of individual data by company for the ten largest listed companies in BRIC and Ukraine. This edition of the survey includes a newly-designed and more user-friendly database which lists the companies surveyd in the first spreadsheet, entitled, „Table of Contents (LOC).”
To download the survey, the database and a separate list of companies that publish an English-language stand-alone ESG report, please click on the links below:
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
PFS Program’s 14th Regional Survey - Investor Relations Online: Survey of Websites of the Largest Listed Companies in Eleven CEE Countries
Today, the PFS Program publishes its 14th semi-annual Survey of Online Investor Relations of the Ten Largest Listed Companies (by market capitalization) in eleven Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. PFS Program Assistant Magdalena Grabowska and PFS Program Intern Lukasz Gilewicz conducted the survey from February 1 through February 29, 2008.
In this edition of the survey, disclosure in almost all categories remains at or reaches its highest level since the first survey was conducted in August 2001. This trend has been observed since February 2006 and may be viewed as sustainable. This edition of the survey documents an ongoing increase in disclosure of detailed governance information.
90% of the companies surveyed provide a list of management online, compared with 86% in August 2007. This is the largest percentage recorded since the surveys began in 2001. 63% of the companies surveyed provide additional information about management online, compared with 59% in August 2007 and 53% in February 2007. This is also the largest percentage recorded since the surveys began in 2001.
87% of the companies surveyed provide a list of board members online and 52% provide additional information on board members. The former category increased to a new record since the first survey was conducted, from 82% in August 2007. Disclosure in the latter category also reached a new record, posting a slight increase from 51% in August 2007 and a significant increase over 40% in February 2007.
Investor Relations Online: Survey of Websites of the Largest Listed Companies in CEE analyzes the websites of the ten largest listed companies in Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovak Republic and Slovenia. For the fourth time, the survey also analyzes companies in BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) as well as Ukraine in order to compare the online disclosure practices of CEE listed companies with peers in other emerging markets.
The survey analyzes the English-language websites and annual reports of the ten largest listed companies in the above-mentioned CEE countries in order to document the current disclosure practices of this ‘blue-chip’ peer group. Although the market capitalization of companies changes over time, the semi-annual surveys represent a snapshot of disclosure practices of the blue-chip peer group on a given day twice a year. Since the definition of the survey universe has remained the same since the first survey, the surveys provide time-series data for CEE blue-chip companies and thus enable the identification of online disclosure trends as well as best practice within the peer group.
The survey provides current data as of February 15, 2008 and comparisons with the 13 previous surveys, conducted in August 2007, February 2007, August 2006, February 2006, August 2005, February 2005, August 2004, February 2004, August 2003, February 2003, August 2002, February 2002 and August 2001.
Since 2004, the survey includes recommendations on the ideal corporate website and compares CEE companies with the parameters of this ideal. This component of the survey identifies best practice and enables CEE companies to benchmark their disclosure against peers in the region, other emerging markets and industry best practice. Here also, the time-series data identifies online disclosure trends.
Survey results include the following:
Websites: In nine of the 11 CEE countries surveyed, each of the ten largest listed companies has a local-language website on February 15, 2008. In Bulgaria and Lithuania, nine of the ten companies surveyed have a local-language website. In the previous survey, 109 companies surveyed had a local-language website. One of the ten Bulgarian companies surveyed did not have a local-language website.
94.5% of the companies surveyed have an English-language website; the percentage increased from 93% in August 2007.
Information on Management: 90% of the companies surveyed provide a list of management online; 63% provide additional information on management. As noted above, in each category the results represent a new record high since the first survey was conducted in 2001.
Information on Board Members: 87% of the companies surveyed provide a list of board members online and 52% provide additional information on board members. The former category increased to a new record since the first survey was conducted, from 82% in August 2007. Disclosure in the latter category also reached a new record, posting a slight increase from 51% in August 2007 and a significant increase over 40% in February 2007.
Comparisons with BRIC and Ukraine: The largest listed companies in BRIC equal or outperform their CEE peers in every category. However, the gap continues to narrow. Furthermore, when companies in BRIC are compared with peers in the eight CEE countries that joined the EU in 2004, the difference between the peer groups is much smaller. The Ukrainian companies surveyed disclose less information than their peers in both BRIC and CEE. However, the disclosures made by the Ukrainian companies improved vis-à-vis the previous survey. Detailed comparisons include the following:
- Each of the companies surveyed in BRIC has a local language website. In nine of the 11 CEE countries surveyed, each of the companies surveyed has a local language website. In Bulgaria and Lithuania, nine of the ten companies surveyed have a local language website. In Ukraine, nine of the ten companies surveyed have a local language website.
- 100% of the companies surveyed in BRIC have an English website, compared with 94.5% in CEE-11, 99% in the eight CEE countries that joined the EU in 2004 and 70% in Ukraine.
- 100% of the companies surveyed in BRIC provide a list of management online, compared with 90% in the CEE-11 and 94% in the eight CEE countries that joined the EU in 2004. In Ukraine 30% of the companies surveyed provide a list of management online.
- 87.5% of the companies surveyed in BRIC provide additional information on management online, compared with 63% in the CEE-11, 71% in the eight CEE countries that joined the EU in 2004 and 20% in Ukraine.
- 100% of the companies surveyed in BRIC provide a list of board members online, compared with 87% in the CEE-11, 91% in the eight CEE countries that joined the EU in 2004 and 20% in Ukraine.
- 87.5% of the companies surveyed in BRIC provide additional information on board members online, compared with 52% in CEE-11, 64% in the eight CEE countries that joined the EU in 2004 and 10% in Ukraine.
The survey contains information compiled in the following groups and sub-groups:
- Current data on 110 companies in eleven CEE countries;
- Separate data on 80 companies in eight CEE countries that joined the European Union (EU) on May 1, 2004;
- Separate data on 30 companies in Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania;
- Comparisons of the data from this current survey with data from the previous 13 surveys conducted every August and February since August 2001; and
- Separate data on 50 companies in Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) as well as Ukraine.
To download the survey, a presentation of survey results and the company database, please click on the links below:
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
PFS Program’s ninth Regional Survey – Reporting on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by the Largest Listed Companies in Eleven CEE Countries
Today, the Partners for Financial Stability (PFS) Program publishes its ninth semi-annual Survey of Reporting on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by the Ten Largest Listed Companies (by market capitalization) in 11 Central and Eastern European (CEE) Countries. This edition of the survey was co-financed by DWS Investments (Deutsche Bank Group). PFS Program Interns Martin Masse (Canada), Ivan Sentevski (Serbia) and Emilia Swiatczak (Poland) as well as PFS Program Assistant Magdalena Grabowska conducted the survey from August through October 2007. Additional co-financing for the Canadian intern was provided by MBAs Without Borders, whose mission is to contribute to the business and social development of transition economies through work rotations of MBA professionals.
Companies in Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia were surveyed for the ninth time; companies in Hungary and Poland were surveyed for the eighth time; and companies in Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania were surveyed for the seventh time. Moreover, a third-time analysis of peer companies (the ten largest listed companies by market capitalization) in Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) as well as Ukraine allows for benchmarking with these emerging market peers for the third time.
PFS Program surveys analyze the annual reports and websites of the ten largest listed companies in the above-mentioned 11 CEE countries in order to document the current disclosure practices of this “blue-chip” peer group and identify best practice among the peer group. Whereas the universe of companies surveyed may change over time due to changes in a company’s market capitalization, the semi-annual surveys of reporting on CSR represent a snapshot of this peer group’s CSR disclosure practices on a given day twice a year. Furthermore, by analyzing disclosures in both annual reports and websites, the surveys track the timing of the publication of the annual report and the related yet separate issue of periodic disclosure, namely, how blue-chip companies keep their websites data-rich and up-to-date. The surveys enable companies to benchmark their disclosure practices against peers on a national, industry and regional basis.
This survey analyzes companies’ disclosures in English (in the English-language annual report and on the English-language company website) during the time period August - September 2007 on the following three topics: corporate governance, environmental policy and social policy. The record date for the disclosures is September 15, 2007.
This edition of the survey documents a generally higher level of online disclosure of corporate governance information, continuing the trend over the past four years. Slightly more information is also disclosed in the area of social policy, compared with the previous survey published in May 2007. Significant progress remains to be made in disclosing information on environmental policy.
Overall, companies in BRIC outperform CEE peers in terms of the availability of English-language websites and annual reports as well as specific disclosures in all three areas. With regards to corporate governance, the most significant difference concerns compliance with a corporate governance code and disclosure of a code of business conduct/code of ethics in both the website and annual report. In general, BRIC companies also provide more information on social policy and environmental policy. Due to the lack of a number of drivers, Ukrainian companies lag behind both BRIC and CEE peers in all areas
22 of the 110 CEE companies surveyed (20%) provide a stand-alone environmental, social and governance (ESG) report online in English on the record date of September 15, 2007. This demonstrates continuation of an ongoing trend: 19 of the 110 companies surveyed (17%) published such a report in April 2007, compared with 17 companies (15%) in September 2006.
Survey findings include the following:
• 94.5% of the 110 CEE companies surveyed have an English-language website on the record date of September 15, 2007, compared with 94% in April 2007, 94% in September 2006, 87% in April 2006, 89% in September 2005 and 82% in April 2005. In comparison, 97.5% of the BRIC companies surveyed and 60% of the Ukrainian companies surveyed have an English-language website.
• 82% of the 110 CEE companies surveyed have a 2006 English-language annual report online on the same record date of September 15, 2007 compared with 90% in BRIC and 20% in Ukraine.
• Nine Polish, eight Slovene, six Hungarian, five Estonian, four Czech and four Latvian companies disclose information regarding compliance with a corporate governance code on the company website. Eight Polish, eight Slovene, seven Lithuanian, six Estonian, five Czech and four Hungarian companies disclose this information in the annual report.
• 33% of the 110 CEE companies surveyed disclose information on environmental performance on their website, compared with 20% in April 2007, 28% in September 2006, 19% in April 2006, 29% in September 2005, 26% in April 2005 and 24% in August 2004.
• 53% of the 110 CEE companies surveyed disclose information on sponsorships on their website, compared with 44% in April 2007, 44% in September 2006, 37% in April 2006, 47% in September 2005, 37% in April 2005 and 33% in August 2004.
• 22 of the 110 CEE companies surveyed (20%) publish a stand-alone English-language ESG report as of September 15, 2007. Of the 22 reports published in CEE, 20 (91%) use recognized standards and seven (32%) provide a third-party assurance statement.
• 15 of the 40 BRIC companies surveyed (38%) publish a stand-alone English-language ESG report. Of the 15 reports published in BRIC, 14 (93%) use recognized standards and nine (60) % provide a third-party assurance. No Ukrainian company produces such a report as of the record date of September 15, 2007.
Note: The survey consists of the three following documents: a report of the survey findings presenting data aggregated by country; a database of individual data by company for the ten largest listed companies in each of the 11 CEE countries; and a separate database of individual data by company for the ten largest listed companies in BRIC and Ukraine.
To download the survey and the two company databases, please click on the links below:
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
PFS Program’s 13th Regional Survey - Investor Relations Online: Survey of Websites of the Largest Listed Companies in Eleven CEE Countries
Today, the PFS Program publishes its 13th semi-annual Survey of Online Investor Relations of the Ten Largest Listed Companies (by market capitalization) in eleven Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. PFS Program Assistant Magdalena Grabowska and PFS Program Intern Dagmara Lubczynska conducted the survey from July 2 through September 3, 2007.
In this edition of the survey, disclosure in almost all categories remains at or reaches its highest level since the first survey was conducted in August 2001. This trend has been observed since February 2006 and may be viewed as sustainable. In particular, this edition of the survey documents a dramatic increase in disclosure of detailed governance information. 59% of the companies surveyed provide additional information about management online, compared with 53% in February 2007 and 45% in August 2006. This is the largest percentage recorded since the surveys began in 2001. Furthermore, 51% of the companies surveyed provide additional information about board members online. This is also the largest percentage recorded since the first survey and represents a significant increase over previous surveys: 40% in February 2007 and 37% in August 2006.
Investor Relations Online: Survey of Websites of the Largest Listed Companies in CEE analyzes the websites of the ten largest listed companies in Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovak Republic and Slovenia. For the third time, the survey also analyzes companies in BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) as well as Ukraine in order to compare the online disclosure practices of CEE listed companies with peers in other emerging markets.
The survey analyzes the English-language websites and annual reports of the ten largest listed companies in the above-mentioned CEE countries in order to document the current disclosure practices of this ‘blue-chip’ peer group. Although the market capitalization of companies changes over time, the semi-annual surveys represent a snapshot of disclosure practices of the blue-chip peer group on a given day twice a year. Since the definition of the survey universe has remained the same since the first survey, the surveys provide time-series data for CEE blue-chip companies and thus enable the identification of online disclosure trends as well as best practice within the peer group.
The survey provides current data as of August 15, 2007 and comparisons with the 12 previous surveys, conducted in February 2007, August 2006, February 2006, August 2005, February 2005, August 2004, February 2004, August 2003, February 2003, August 2002, February 2002 and August 2001.
Since 2004, the survey includes recommendations on the ideal corporate website and compares CEE companies with the parameters of this ideal. This component of the survey identifies best practice and enables CEE companies to benchmark their disclosure against peers in the region, other emerging markets and industry best practice. Here also, the time-series data identifies online disclosure trends.
Survey results include the following:
Websites: In ten of the 11 CEE countries surveyed, each of the ten largest listed companies has a local-language website on August 15, 2007. In Bulgaria, nine of the ten companies surveyed have a local-language website. In the previous two surveys, each of the 110 CEE companies surveyed had a local-language website on the record date. 93% of the companies surveyed have an English-language website; the percentage has remained constant for the past 18 months.
Information on Management: 86% of the companies surveyed provide a list of management online; 59% provide additional information on management. Disclosure in the former category increased slightly (4%) since the last survey whereas the latter represents a record high since the first survey was conducted and a significant increase vis-à-vis February 2007 (53%) and August 2006 (45%).
Information on Board Members: 82% of the companies surveyed provide a list of board members online and 51% provide additional information on board members. The former category increased to a slightly higher new record since the first survey was conducted, from 81% in February 2007. Disclosure in the latter category also represents a new record high and a significant increase from 40% in February 2007, 36% in August 2006 and 41% in February 2006.
Comparisons with BRIC and Ukraine: The largest listed companies in BRIC equal or outperform their CEE peers in every category. However, the gap continues to narrow. Furthermore, when companies in BRIC are compared with peers in the eight CEE countries that joined the EU in 2004, the difference between the peer groups is much smaller. The Ukrainian companies surveyed disclose less information than their peers in both BRIC and CEE. Detailed comparisons include the following:
- Each of the companies surveyed in BRIC has a local language website. In ten of the 11 CEE countries surveyed, each of the companies surveyed has a local language website. In Bulgaria, nine of the ten companies surveyed have a local language website. In Ukraine, seven of the ten companies surveyed have a local language website.
- 98% of the companies surveyed in BRIC have an English website, compared with 93% in CEE-11, 99% in the eight CEE countries that joined the EU in 2004 and 60% in Ukraine.
- 95% of the companies surveyed in BRIC provide a list of management online, compared with 86% in the CEE-11 and 92% in the eight CEE countries that joined the EU in 2004. In Ukraine 40% of the companies surveyed provide a list of management online.
- 90% of the companies surveyed in BRIC provide additional information on management online, compared with 59% in the CEE-11, 71% in the eight CEE countries that joined the EU in 2004 and 30% in Ukraine.
- 95% of the companies surveyed in BRIC provide a list of board members online, compared with 82% in the CEE-11, 87% in the eight CEE countries that joined the EU in 2004 and 30% in Ukraine.
- 93% of the companies surveyed in BRIC provide additional information on board members online, compared with 51% in CEE-11, 64% in the eight CEE countries that joined the EU in 2004 and 20% in Ukraine.
The survey contains information compiled in the following groups and sub-groups:
- Current data on 110 companies in eleven CEE countries;
- Separate data on 80 companies in eight CEE countries that joined the European Union (EU) on May 1, 2004;
- Separate data on 30 companies in Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania;
- Comparisons of the data from this current survey with data from the previous 12 conducted every August and February since August 2001; and
- Separate data on 50 companies in Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) as well as Ukraine.
To download the survey, a presentation of survey results and the company database, please click on the links below:
Monday, May 7, 2007
PFS Program’s eighth Regional Survey – Reporting on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by the Largest Listed Companies in Eleven CEE Countries
Today, the Partners for Financial Stability (PFS) Program publishes its eighth semi-annual Survey of Reporting on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by the Ten Largest Listed Companies (by market capitalization) in 11 Central and Eastern European (CEE) Countries. This edition of the survey was co-financed by DWS Investments (Deutsche Bank Group). PFS Program Interns Magdalena Grabowska and Wojciech Stec as well as PFS Program Research Assistant Igor Solodovnik conducted the survey from March through May 2007.
Companies in Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia were surveyed for the eighth time; companies in Hungary and Poland were surveyed for the seventh time; and companies in Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania were surveyed for the sixth time. Moreover, a second-time analysis of peer companies (the ten largest listed companies by market capitalization) in Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) as well as Ukraine allows for benchmarking with these emerging market peers for the second time.
PFS Program surveys analyze the annual reports and websites of the ten largest listed companies in the above-mentioned 11 CEE countries in order to document the current disclosure practices of this “blue-chip” peer group and identify best practice among the peer group. Whereas the universe of companies surveyed may change over time due to changes in a company’s market capitalization, the semi-annual surveys of reporting on CSR represent a snapshot of this peer group’s CSR disclosure practices on a given day twice a year. Furthermore, by analyzing disclosures in both annual reports and websites, the surveys track the timing of the publication of the annual report and the related yet separate issue of periodic disclosure, namely, how blue-chip companies keep their websites data-rich and up-to-date. The surveys enable companies to benchmark their disclosure practices against peers on a national, industry and regional basis.
This survey analyzes companies’ disclosures in English (in the English-language annual report and on the English-language company website) during the time period March – April 2007 on the following three topics: corporate governance, environmental policy and social policy. The record date for the disclosures is April 15, 2007.
In Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland all 10 of the companies surveyed in each country have an English-language website. 94% of the 110 CEE companies surveyed have an English-language website. 85% of the 110 CEE companies surveyed have either a 2004, 2005 or 2006 English-language annual report online by April 15, 2007. (Comparison of disclosures in annual reports is not as relevant in the spring edition of this semi-annual survey, since as of April 15 many companies have not yet published their 2005 annual report online.) In general, companies in Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovenia disclose the most information online.
This eighth semi-annual regional survey demonstrates a generally similar level of disclosure on company websites to that observed during the past four years across all three information categories analyzed: corporate governance, environmental policy and social policy. In general, companies provide more information on corporate governance than on environmental or social policy. Also, corporate governance codes continue to significantly impact reporting on corporate governance issues in certain countries. Several companies now issue separate/stand-alone reports on environmental, social and/or governance (ESG) issues. Of the 110 CEE companies surveyed, 19 (17%) have an English-language ESG report available online on April 15, 2007. This represents a significant increase (21%) since September 2006, when only 15% of the companies surveyed published such a report. In comparison, five Chinese, four Russian, four Brazilian and two Indian companies have English-language ESG reports available online.
Survey findings include the following:
• 94% of the CEE companies surveyed have an English-language website on the record date of April 15, 2007 compared with 94% in September 2006, 87% in April 2006, 89% in September 2005 and 81% in April 2005. In contrast, 100% of the surveyed companies in BRIC and 60% of the Ukrainian companies surveyed have an English-language website.
• Nine Polish, seven Czech and seven Slovene companies disclose implementation of a corporate governance code in their annual report.
• 69% of the CEE companies surveyed disclose information on their governance structure in the company's annual report, compared with 75% in September 2006, 62% in April 2006 and 68% in September 2005. 88% of the BRIC companies surveyed and 20% of the Ukrainian companies surveyed provide this information.
• 65% of the CEE companies surveyed disclose employee benefits or development policies in the (2004, 2005 or 2006) annual report currently available online, compared with 64% in September 2006, 42% in April 2006, 48% in September 2005, 37% in April 2005 and 42% in August 2004.
• 49% of the CEE companies surveyed disclose information on compliance with environmental standards on their website, compared with 45% in September 2006, 37% in April 2006, 48% in September 2005, 41% in April 2005 and 37% in August 2004.
• 26% of the CEE companies surveyed report on supply chain management on their website; this is the highest percentage recorded since the first survey conducted in summer 2003. In September 2006, only 10% of the companies surveyed provided this information online.
Note: The survey consists of the three following documents: a report of the survey findings presenting data aggregated by country; a database of individual data by company for the ten largest listed companies in each of the 11 CEE countries; and a separate database of individual data by company for the ten largest listed companies in BRIC and Ukraine.
To download the survey and the two company databases, please click on the links below:
Monday, March 5, 2007
PFS Program’s 12th Regional Survey - Investor Relations Online: Survey of Websites of the Largest Listed Companies in Eleven CEE Countries
Today, the PFS Program publishes its 12th semi-annual Survey of Online Investor Relations of the Ten Largest Listed Companies (by market capitalization) in eleven Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. PFS Program Manager Agnieszka Cenzartowicz, PFS Program Research Assistant Igor Solodovnik and Catherine Sykes, East-West Management Institute (EWMI) New York conducted the survey from January 2 through March 2, 2007.
Investor Relations Online: Survey of Websites of the Largest Listed Companies in CEE analyzes the websites of the ten largest listed companies in Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovak Republic and Slovenia. For the second time, the survey provides comparisons with BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) and Ukraine in order to compare online disclosure practices with peers in other emerging markets.
This survey analyzes the English-language websites and annual reports of the 10 largest listed companies in the aforementioned CEE countries in order to document the current disclosure practices of this ‘blue-chip’ peer group. Although the market capitalization of companies changes over time, these semi-annual surveys represent a snapshot of disclosure practices of the blue-chip peer group on a given day twice a year. Since the definition of the survey universe has remained the same since the first survey, the surveys provide time-series data for CEE blue-chip companies and thus enable the identification of online disclosure trends.
The survey provides current data as of February 15, 2007 and comparisons with the 11 previous surveys, published in August 2006, February 2006, August 2005, February 2005, August 2004, February 2004, August 2003, February 2003, August 2002, February 2002 and August 2001.
In this survey, disclosure in almost all categories remained at or reached its highest level since the first survey was conducted in August 2001. This trend has been observed since February 2006 and may be viewed as sustainable. As of February 15, 2007 all companies surveyed in all 11 countries have a local language website. A large majority have an English-language website: including all 10 companies in surveyed in Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland. However, while basic information about management and boards is now generally available online, detailed information is still lacking in many markets.
Beginning in 2004, the survey includes recommendations on the ideal corporate website and compares CEE companies to this ideal. This component of the survey is designed to help identify best practice and enables CEE companies to benchmark their disclosure against peers in the region against other emerging markets and against industry best practice according to standardized parameters. Here also, the time-series data permits identification of trends.
Survey results include the following:
• Websites: Each of the 110 CEE companies surveyed has a local-language website. This is the third consecutive time since the first survey was conducted in August 2001 that each CEE company surveyed has a local-language website. 94% of the companies surveyed have an English-language website; the percentage has remained constant for the past 18 months.
• Information on Management: 82% of the companies surveyed provide a list of management online; 53% provide additional information on management. The former category decreased slightly (5%) whereas the later increased significantly (15%) vis-à-vis August 2006.
• Information on Board Members: 81% of the companies surveyed provide a list of board members online, whereas 40% provide additional information on their board members. The former category remained at the highest level reported since the first survey and the latter increased 7.5% to a level comparable to the highest level reported (41% in February 2006).
• Comparisons with BRIC and Ukraine: On average, the largest listed companies in the BRIC countries equal or outperform their CEE peers in every category. However, in several categories the difference is minimal. In Ukraine, in contrast, the companies surveyed disclose less information in English than their peers in both BRIC and CEE.
The PFS Program surveys analyze the websites of the ten largest listed companies in the above-mentioned eleven CEE countries in order to document the current disclosure practices of this “blue-chip” peer group and identify best practice among the peer group. Whereas the universe of companies surveyed may change over time due to changes in a company’s market capitalization, the ongoing surveys represent a snapshot of this peer group’s disclosure practices on a given day twice a year and thereby provide insights into blue-chip companies’ corporate governance and investor relations practices. The surveys enable companies to benchmark their disclosure practices against peers on a national, industry and regional basis.
Comparative survey findings include the following:
• Each of the 40 companies surveyed in BRIC and each of the 110 CEE companies has a local-language website. In Ukraine, seven out of ten companies have a local-language website.
• 100% of the 40 companies surveyed in BRIC, 94% of the 110 CEE companies surveyed and 50% of the companies surveyed in Ukraine have an English-language website.
• 95% of the 40 companies surveyed in BRIC, 82% of the 110 CEE companies surveyed and 40% of the companies surveyed in Ukraine provide a list of management online.
• 78% of the 40 companies surveyed in BRIC, 53% of the 110 CEE companies surveyed and 30% of the companies surveyed in Ukraine provide additional information on management online.
• 92% of the 40 companies surveyed in BRIC, 81% of the 110 CEE companies surveyed and 20% of the companies surveyed in Ukraine provide a list of board members online.
• 70% of the 40 companies surveyed in BRIC, 40% of the 110 CEE companies surveyed and 20% of the companies surveyed in Ukraine provide additional information on board members online.
This survey presents data aggregated in the following groupings to enable different types of comparison:
• Combined data on the 10 largest-listed companies in each of the 11 CEE countries;
• Separate data on the eight new member states of the EU admitted on May 1, 2004;
• Separate data on Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania;
• Comparisons of the data from the current survey with data from the previous 11 surveys conducted since August 2001; and
• Separate data on Brazil, Russia India, China (BRIC) and Ukraine.
To download the survey, a presentation of survey results and the two company databases, please click on the links below:
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Reporting on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by the Largest Listed Companies in Eleven Central and Eastern European (CEE) Countries; First-Time Comparison with Peers in BRIC and Ukraine
Today, the Partners for Financial Stability (PFS) Program publishes its seventh semi-annual Survey of Reporting on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by the Ten Largest Listed Companies (by market capitalization) in 11 Central and Eastern European (CEE) Countries. This edition of the survey was co-financed by DWS Investments (Deutsche Bank Group). DWS Investments provided funding for PFS Program interns Dana Krechowicz (Canada) and Plamena Spassova (Bulgaria), who conducted the survey together with PFS Program Research Assistant Michal Slawinski from August 14 through September 30, 2006. Additional co-financing for the Canadian intern was provided by MBAs Without Borders.
Companies in Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia were surveyed for the seventh time; companies in Hungary and Poland were surveyed for the sixth time; and companies in Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania were surveyed for the fifth time. Moreover, an inaugural analysis of peer companies (the ten largest listed companies by market capitalization) in Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) as well as Ukraine allows for benchmarking with these emerging market peers for the first time.
PFS Program surveys analyze the annual reports and websites of the ten largest listed companies in the above-mentioned 11 CEE countries in order to document the current disclosure practices of this “blue-chip” peer group and identify best practice among the peer group. Whereas the universe of companies surveyed may change over time due to changes in a company’s market capitalization, the semi-annual surveys of reporting on CSR represent a snapshot of this peer group’s CSR disclosure practices on a given day twice a year. Furthermore, by analyzing disclosures in both annual reports and websites, the surveys track the timing of the publication of the annual report and the related yet separate issue of periodic disclosure, namely, how blue-chip companies keep their websites data-rich and up-to-date. The surveys enable companies to benchmark their disclosure practices against peers on a national, industry and regional basis.
This survey analyzes companies’ disclosures in English (in the English-language annual report and on the English-language company website) during the time period August – September 2006 on the following three topics: corporate governance, environmental policy and social policy. The record date for the disclosures is September 15, 2006.
In Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia all 10 of the companies surveyed in each country have an English-language website. 94% of the 110 CEE companies surveyed have an English-language website. 71% of the 100 CEE companies surveyed had released their 2005 annual report online by September 15, 2006. In general, companies in Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovenia disclose the most information online.
This seventh semi-annual regional survey demonstrates a generally similar level of disclosure on company websites to that observed during the past three years across all three information categories analyzed: corporate governance, environmental policy and social policy. In general, companies provide more information on corporate governance than on environmental or social policy. Also, corporate governance codes continue to significantly impact reporting on corporate governance issues in certain countries. Several companies now issue separate/stand-alone reports on environmental, social and/or governance (ESG) issues. Of the 110 CEE companies surveyed, 14 (13%) have English-language ESG reports available online on September 15, 2006. Five companies (4.5%) produce the report in accordance with recognized standards, such as Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines. Five Brazilian companies, four Russian companies, two Indian companies and two Chinese companies have English-language ESG reports available online. In comparison, a July 2006 research survey conducted by Social Investment Research Analysts Network noted that 34 S&P 100 companies (34%) produce an ESG report in compliance with GRI guidelines.
Survey findings include the following:
• 94% of the CEE companies surveyed have an English-language website on the record date of September 15, 2006 compared with 87% in April 2006, 89% in September 2005 and 81% in April 2005. In contrast, 100% of the surveyed companies in BRIC and 50% of the Ukrainian companies surveyed have an English-language website.
• 71% of the CEE companies surveyed have an English-language 2005 annual report available online on the record date of September 15, 2006 compared with 78% on September 15, 2005 and 65% on August 15, 2004.
• Nine Slovene, eight Polish, six Czech and six Hungarian companies disclose implementation of a corporate governance code in their annual report.
• 75% of the CEE companies surveyed disclose information on their governance structure in the company's annual report, compared with 62% in April 2006 and 68% in September 2005. 45% of the BRIC companies surveyed and 20% of the Ukrainian companies surveyed provide this information.
• 64% of the CEE companies surveyed disclose employee benefits or development policies in the (2003, 2004 or 2005) annual report currently available online, compared with 42% in April 2006, 48% in September 2005, 37% in April 2005 and 42% in August 2004
• 45% of the CEE companies surveyed disclose information on compliance with environmental standards on their website, compared with 37% in April 2006, 48% in September 2005, 41% in April 2005 and 37% in August 2004.
• 25% of the CEE companies surveyed report on environmental performance in their annual report, compared with 48% of the BRIC companies surveyed.
Note: The survey consists of the following documents: a report of the survey findings presenting data aggregated by country; a database of individual data by company for the ten largest listed companies in each of the 11 CEE countries; and a separate database of individual data by company for the ten largest listed companies in BRIC and Ukraine.
To download the survey and the background databases, please click on the links below:
Friday, September 8, 2006
PFS Program’s Eleventh Regional Survey - Investor Relations Online: Survey of Websites of the Largest Listed Companies in Eleven CEE Countries
Today, the PFS Program publishes its eleventh semi-annual survey of online investor relations of the ten largest listed companies (by market capitalization) in eleven Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. PFS Program Interns Harald Lang and Sergei Leonov as well as PFS Program Research Assistant Michal Slawinski conducted the survey from June through August 2006.
Investor Relations Online: Survey of Websites of the Largest Listed Companies in CEE analyzes the websites of the ten largest listed companies (by market capitalization) in Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovak Republic and Slovenia for the tenth time and in Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania for the fifth time. The survey provides current data as of August 15, 2006 and comparisons with the ten previous surveys, published in February 2006, August 2005, February 2005, August 2004, February 2004, August 2003, February 2003, August 2002, February 2002 and August 2001. Moreover, the survey includes for the first time an analysis of the websites of the ten largest listed companies (by market capitalization) in the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) as well as Ukraine.
Overall, online disclosure by CEE listed companies increased since the last survey. In all categories surveyed but two, disclosure remained at or reached the highest level recorded since the survey was first conducted in August 2001. This suggests that the high levels of disclosure in most categories are sustainable. Only in two categories were declines observed; however, one of these was insignificant (1%). Improvement remains to be made in online disclosure of additional information about management and board members.
Survey results include the following:
• All of the CEE companies surveyed have a local-language website. This is the second consecutive time since the first survey was conducted in August 2001 that all CEE companies surveyed have a local-language website.
• 93% of the CEE companies surveyed have an English website compared with 94% in February 2006.
• 86% of the CEE companies surveyed provide a list of management online; this is the highest percentage recorded since the first survey. 81% of companies provided this information in February 2006 compared with 78% in August 2005. 45% of companies provide additional information on management online, the same percentage as in February 2006.
• 81% of the CEE companies surveyed provide a list of board members online; this is also the highest percentage recorded since the first survey. 75% of companies provided this information in February 2006 compared with 69% in August 2005. 37% of companies provide additional information on board members online, compared with 41% in February 2006 and 29% in August 2005.
• Not surprisingly, when analyzed separately the eight new Member States of the European Union outperform the eleven CEE countries (eight new EU Member States plus Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania) in all categories surveyed. Nevertheless, online disclosure also improved in Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania since the last survey.
The PFS Program surveys analyze the websites of the ten largest listed companies in the above-mentioned eleven CEE countries in order to document the current disclosure practices of this “blue-chip” peer group and identify best practice among the peer group. Whereas the universe of companies surveyed may change over time due to changes in a company’s market capitalization, the ongoing surveys represent a snapshot of this peer group’s disclosure practices on a given day twice a year and thereby provide insights into blue-chip companies’ corporate governance and investor relations practices. The surveys enable companies to benchmark their disclosure practices against peers on a national, industry and regional basis.
This first-time survey of the largest listed companies in BRIC and Ukraine also allows the CEE companies to benchmark against peers in other emerging markets. On average, the largest listed companies in the BRIC countries equal or outperform their CEE peers in every category, although in several categories the difference is minimal. Comparative survey findings include the following:
• All of the companies surveyed in BRIC and in the eleven CEE countries have a local-language website, whereas in Ukraine nine out of ten companies have a local-language website.
• 100% of the companies surveyed in BRIC, 93% of the companies surveyed in the eleven CEE countries and 40% of the companies surveyed in Ukraine have an English-language website.
• 87% of companies surveyed in BRIC, 86% of the companies surveyed in the eleven CEE countries and 30% of the companies surveyed in Ukraine provide a list of management online.
• 73% of the companies surveyed in BRIC, 46% of the companies surveyed in the eleven CEE countries and 10% of the companies surveyed in Ukraine provide additional information on management online.
• 90% of the companies surveyed in BRIC, 81% of the companies surveyed in the eleven CEE countries and 20% of the companies surveyed in Ukraine provide a list of board members online.
• 60% of the companies surveyed in BRIC, 37% of the companies surveyed in the eleven CEE countries and 10% of the companies surveyed in Ukraine provide additional information on board members online.
Note: The survey, consisting of databases of results by company and a presentation of the results by country, contains the following information: current data as of August 15, 2006 on companies in all eleven CEE countries; comparisons of the data from August 2006 with data from the ten previous surveys conducted in February 2006, August 2005, February 2005, August 2004, February 2004, August 2003, February 2003, August 2002, February 2002 and August 2001; and separate data as of August 15, 2006 on companies in BRIC and Ukraine.
To download the survey and the background databases, please click on the links below:
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Closure of East-West Management Institute’s Budapest Representative Office
Budapest, Hungary
On Wednesday, July 12, 2006 East-West Management Institute (EWMI) closed its Budapest Representative Office. EWMI would like to take this opportunity to thank Hungarian colleagues and counterparts for their assistance and cooperation during the past years.
As of July 12, 2006 EWMI is temporarily administering the Partners for Financial Stability (PFS) Program from EWMI headquarters in New York. A new EWMI/PFS Program office will open shortly in Central Europe. We will keep you informed.
Tuesday, July 4, 2006
Roundtable on Responsible Investment
Budapest, Hungary
On Tuesday, July 4, 2006 OTP Fund Management, the Budapest Stock Exchange and the British Embassy Budapest organized a Roundtable Discussion on Responsible Investment with Hungarian Pension Fund Trustees. The purpose of the event was to raise awareness, and stimulate discussion, amongst Hungarian pension fund trustees about long-term investment responsibilities in the 21st century. The roundtable format encouraged an open discussion among Hungarian institutional investors and their UK counterparts about a wide range of responsible investment issues. Geoffrey Mazullo, Director, PFS Program, participated in the event.
To download the roundtable description and agenda as well as a press release distributed after the roundtable, please click on the links below:
Friday, May 5, 2006
PFS Program’s Sixth Semi-Annual Regional Survey of Reporting on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by the Largest Listed Companies in Eleven CEE Countries
Today, the Partners for Financial Stability (PFS) Program publishes its sixth semi-annual Survey of Reporting on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by the Ten Largest Listed Companies (by market capitalization) in 11 Central and Eastern European (CEE) Countries. Companies in Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia were surveyed for the sixth time; companies in Hungary and Poland were surveyed for the fifth time; and companies in Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania were surveyed for the fourth time.
Moreover, an analysis of CSR disclosures by the ten largest listed companies (by market capitalization) in Portugal and Spain is included in the survey for the first time.
PFS Program interns Pawel Dziedzic, Ewa Haratym, Anita Keringer and Anna Pogorzelska conducted the survey from March 1 through May 4, 2006.
PFS Program surveys analyze the annual reports and websites of the ten largest listed companies in the above-mentioned 11 CEE countries in order to document the current disclosure practices of this “blue-chip” peer group and identify best practice among the peer group. Whereas the universe of companies surveyed may change over time due to changes in a company’s market capitalization, the semi-annual surveys of reporting on CSR represent a snapshot of this peer group’s CSR disclosure practices on a given day twice a year. Furthermore, by analyzing disclosures in both annual reports and websites, the surveys track the timing of the publication of the annual report and the related yet separate issue of periodic disclosure, namely, how blue-chip companies keep their websites data-rich and up-to-date.
This survey analyzes companies’ disclosures in English (in the English-language annual report and on the English-language company website) during the time period March – April 2005 on the following three topics: corporate governance, environmental policy and social policy. The record date for the disclosures is April 15, 2006.
In the Czech Republic, Latvia, Poland and Slovenia all 10 of the companies surveyed have an English-language website. In Hungary and Lithuania, nine of the 10 companies have an English-language website. In general, companies in Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovenia disclose the most information online.
This sixth semi-annual survey notes a generally similar level of disclosure on company websites to that observed during the past three years across all three information categories analyzed – corporate governance, environmental policy and social policy. In general, companies provide more information on corporate governance than on environmental policy or social policy. Also, corporate governance codes continue to significantly impact reporting on corporate governance issues in certain countries. One trend can be observed. Several companies now issue separate/stand-alone reports on environmental, social and/or governance (ESG) issues. Of the 110 CEE companies surveyed, 15 have English-language ESG reports available on their websites as of April 15, 2006. In contrast, eight Spanish companies and seven Portuguese companies have ESG reports.
Survey findings include the following:
• 87% of the companies surveyed have an English-language website, compared with 89% in September 2005, 83% in April 2005 and 84% in August 2004.
• 69% of the companies surveyed disclose information about their governance structure on their website, compared with 79% in September 2005, 71% in April 2005 and 69% in August 2004).
• Seven Slovene companies disclose implementation of a corporate governance code in the annual report, compared with one in April 2005. Six Czech companies, six Polish companies and five Hungarian companies now disclose implementation of a corporate governance code in the annual report.
• Nine Polish companies, six Hungarian companies, four Czech companies and four Slovene companies report on implementation of a corporate governance code on the company website.
• 28 companies (25%) now disclose compliance with a corporate governance code on their website, compared with 20 companies (18%) in September 2005 and 19 companies (17%) in April 2005.
• 37% of the companies surveyed mention compliance with environmental standards on their website, compared with 48% in September 2005, 41% in April 2005 and 37% in August 2004.
• 37% of the companies surveyed disclose community, patronage and/or sponsorship programs in the (2003, 2004 or 2005) annual reports currently available online, compared with 36% in September 2005, 28% in April 2005 and 30% in August 2004.
• 37% of the companies surveyed disclose community, patronage and/or sponsorship programs on their website, compared with 47% in September 2005, 37% in April 2005 and 32% in August 2004.
Comparisons of disclosures in annual reports is not as relevant in the spring edition of the semi-annual survey, since as of April 15, 2006 many companies have not yet published their 2005 annual report online. However, it should be noted that Estonia is the clear exception in the region. By April 15, 2006 nine of the 10 Estonian companies surveyed had published an English-language version of their annual report online. However, it should be noted that in many cases the annual report is only available on the website of the Tallinn Stock Exchange. Nevertheless, in each of the five previous surveys, all 10 Estonian companies provided electronic versions of their annual report online and in this survey nine of the 10 Estonian companies did so. This was not the case in any of the other 10 countries.
The PFS Program’s seventh regional survey, to be conducted in September 2006, will compare in greater detail disclosure in annual reports with disclosures made in September 2005. It will also continue analyze reporting on company websites and compare the results with the previous surveys. For the second time, the survey will track the number of CEE countries that publish stand-alone ESG reports in English.
The September 2006 edition of the survey will include a first-time comparison with the largest listed companies in the BRIC countries – Brazil, Russia, India and China – with the aim of comparing CEE listed companies’ reporting with that of peers in other emerging markets.
Note: The survey consists of the following documents: a presentation of data aggregated by country; a database of individual data by company for the ten largest listed companies in each of the 11 CEE countries; and a separate database of individual data by company for the ten largest listed companies in Portugal and Spain.
To download the survey and the background databases, please click on the links below:
Thursday, March 2, 2006
PFS Program’s Tenth Regional Survey - Investor Relations Online: Survey of Websites of the Largest Listed Companies in Eleven CEE Countries
Today, the PFS Program publishes its tenth semi-annual survey of online investor relations of the ten largest listed companies (by market capitalization) in eleven Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. PFS Program intern Pawel Dziedzic conducted the survey in February 2006.
Investor Relations Online: Survey of Websites of the Largest Listed Companies in CEE analyzes the websites of the ten largest listed companies (by market capitalization) in Czech Republic Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovak Republic and Slovenia for the tenth time and in Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania for the fourth time. The survey provides current data as of February 15, 2006 and comparisons with the nine previous surveys, published in August 2005, February 2005, August 2004, February 2004, August 2003, February 2003, August 2002, February 2002 and August 2001. Moreover, the survey includes for the first time an analysis of the websites of the ten largest listed companies (by market capitalization) in Portugal and Spain.
The survey demonstrates that online disclosure by CEE listed companies has improved since the last survey, conducted in August 2005. In particular, the number of companies with local-language and English-language websites has increased to the highest levels recorded since the PFS Program launched its surveys in August 2001. In February 2006, all of the companies surveyed have a local-language website. This is the first time since August 2001 that the PFS Program has observed existence of a local-language website at each of the companies surveyed. Also, the number of companies that provide additional information on supervisory board members (which is traditionally the category with the poorest survey results) increased significantly.
Survey results include the following:
• In February 2006, all of the CEE companies surveyed have a local-language website. As noted above, this is the first time that all CEE companies surveyed have a local-language website since the first survey was conducted in August 2001. In August 2005, 97% of the companies surveyed had a local-language website.
• In February 2006, 94% of the CEE companies surveyed have an English-language website. This is also the highest percentage recorded since the first survey. In August 2005, 87% of the companies surveyed had an English-language website. . Now, in one country, seven of the ten companies surveyed have an English-language website; in four countries, nine of the ten companies surveyed have an English-language website; and in six countries, all ten companies have an English-language website. This represents an improvement since the last survey. In August 2005, in two countries, seven of the ten companies surveyed had an English-language website; in two countries, eight of the ten companies surveyed had an English-language website; in four countries, nine of the ten companies surveyed had an English-language website; and in three countries, all ten companies surveyed had and English-language website.
The PFS Program surveys analyze the websites of the ten largest listed companies in the above-mentioned eleven CEE countries in order to document the current disclosure practices of this “blue-chip” peer group and identify best practice among the peer group. Whereas the universe of companies surveyed may change over time due to changes in a company’s market capitalization, the ongoing surveys represent a snapshot of this peer group’s disclosure practices on a given day twice a year and thereby provide insights into blue-chip companies’ corporate governance and investor relations practices.
A comparison of the results of the tenth survey of the largest listed companies in eleven CEE countries and the first survey of peers in Portugal and Spain includes the following:
• All of the companies surveyed in the eleven CEE countries and in Portugal and Spain have a local-language website;
• 94% of the companies surveyed in the eleven CEE countries (and 97.5% of the companies surveyed in the eight new member states of the European Union [EU]) have an English-language website, compared with 90% in Portugal and 100% in Spain;
• 81% of the companies surveyed in the eleven CEE countries provide a list of management online compared with 90% in Portugal and 100% in Spain;
• 46% of the companies surveyed in the eleven CEE countries provide additional information on management online compared with 90% in Portugal and 100% in Spain;
• 76% of the companies surveyed in the eleven CEE countries provide a list of board members online compared with 90% in Portugal and 100% in Spain; and
• 41% of the companies surveyed in the eleven CEE countries provide additional information on board members online compared with 90% in Portugal and 100% in Spain.
The first-time survey of Portugal and Spain enables the comparison of the disclosure practices of the CEE blue-chip peer group with peers in the EU.
Note: The survey, consisting of databases of results by company and a presentation of the results by country, contains the following information: current data as of February 15, 2006 on companies in all eleven CEE countries; comparisons of the data from February 2006 with data from the previous surveys conducted in August 2005, February 2005, August 2004, February 2004, August 2003, February 2003, August 2002, February 2002 and August 2001; and separate data as of February 15, 2006 on companies in Portugal and Spain.
To download the survey and the background databases, please click on the links below:
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Presentation on Business Ethics and Corporate Governance
Budapest, Hungary
On Tuesday, January 24, 2006 Geoffrey Mazullo, Director, PFS Program gave a presentation on business ethics and corporate governance to MBA Students from the Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics, University of Delaware. The presentation took place at the CEU Business School.
A professor and 12 students from the University of Delaware; one MBA student from CEU Business School; and one PFS Program staff member attended the presentation.
Following the presentation, the group engaged in a discussion of the business ethics/corporate governance case study and data from the PFS Program’s regional surveys of reporting by listed companies in Central and Eastern Europe.
To download the presentation, please click on the links below:
Tuesday, October 4, 2005
PFS Program’s Fifth Semi-Annual Regional Survey of Reporting on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by the Largest Listed Companies in Eleven CEE Countries
Today, the Partners for Financial Stability (PFS) Program publishes its fifth semi-annual Survey of Reporting on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by the Ten Largest Listed Companies (by market capitalization) in 11 Central and Eastern European (CEE) Countries. Companies in Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia were surveyed for the fifth time; companies in Hungary and Poland were surveyed for the fourth time; and companies in Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania were surveyed for the third time.
Moreover, in response to a request from the Federation of Euro-Asian Stock Exchanges, an analysis of CSR disclosures by the ten largest listed companies (by market capitalization) in Greece and Turkey is included in the survey for the first time.
PFS Program interns Joanna Karnat, Janis Oskajs and Tomasz Zych conducted the survey from July through September 2005.
PFS Program surveys analyze the annual reports and websites of the ten largest listed companies in the above-mentioned 11 CEE countries in order to document the current disclosure practices of this “blue-chip” peer group and identify best practice among the peer group. Whereas the universe of companies surveyed may change over time due to changes in a company’s market capitalization, the semi-annual surveys of reporting on CSR represent a snapshot of this peer group’s CSR disclosure practices on a given day twice a year. Furthermore, by analyzing disclosures in both annual reports and websites, the surveys track the timing of the publication of the annual report and the related yet separate issue of periodic disclosure, namely, how blue-chip companies keep their websites data-rich and up-to-date.
This survey analyzes companies’ disclosures in English (in the English-language annual report and on the English-language company website) during the time period July - September 2005 on the following three topics: corporate governance, environmental policy and social policy. The record date for the disclosures is September 15, 2005.
This survey demonstrates a general increase in the amount of information disclosed in the English-language on a range of issues since the last surveys, conducted in April 2005 and August 2004. In several areas, no significant change was observed; only in a few areas was a slight decrease in the amount of information disclosed observed.
In Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Slovenia all ten of the companies surveyed have an English-language website; however, companies in Latvia and Lithuania generally do not disclose information on all three topics surveyed. In Hungary, nine of the ten companies have an English-language website. In general, companies in Hungary, Poland and Slovenia are the leaders in disclosing CSR information among the 11 CEE countries surveyed. The level of disclosure among companies in the three non-European Union (EU) member countries (Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania) increased slightly or remained unchanged since the last survey conducted in April 2005.
Survey findings include the following:
· 89% of the companies surveyed have an English-language website (compared with 83% in April 2005 and 84% in August 2004);
· 78% of the companies surveyed have an English-language annual report (compared with 65% in August 2004);
· 79% of the companies surveyed disclose information about their governance structure on their website (compared with 71% in April 2005 and 69% in August 2004);
· 68% of the companies surveyed disclose information about their governance structure in their annual report (compared with 52% in August 2004);
· 48% of the companies surveyed disclose information about their shareholder rights policy on their website (compared with 35% in April 2005 and 46% in August 2004);
· 41% of the companies surveyed disclose information about their shareholder rights policy in their annual report (compared with 44% in August 2004);
· 48% of the companies surveyed mention compliance with environmental standards on their website (compared with 41% in April 2005 and 37% in August 2004);
· 27% of the companies surveyed mention compliance with environmental standards in their annual report (compared with 28% in August 2004);
· 42% of the companies surveyed disclose employee development/benefit policies on their website (compared with 36% in April 2005 and 28% in August 2004); and
· 48% of the companies surveyed disclose employee development/benefit policies in their annual report (compared with 42% in August 2004).
Note: The survey consists of a presentation of data aggregated by country and two separate databases of individual data by company - one database for the ten largest listed companies in each of the 11 CEE countries and a separate database for the ten largest listed companies in Greece as well as Turkey.
To download the survey and the background databases, please click on the links below:
Tuesday, September 6, 2005
PFS Program’s Ninth Regional Survey - Investor Relations Online: Survey of Websites of the Largest Listed Companies in Eleven CEE Countries
Today, the PFS Program publishes its ninth semi-annual survey of online investor relations of the ten largest listed companies (by market capitalization) in eleven Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. PFS Program interns Joanna Karnat and Tomasz Zych conducted the survey in July and August 2005.
Investor Relations Online: Survey of Websites of the Largest Listed Companies in CEE analyses the websites of the ten largest listed companies (by market capitalization) in Czech Republic Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovak Republic and Slovenia for the ninth time and in Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania for the third time. The survey provides current data as of August 15, 2005 and comparisons with the eight previous surveys, published in February 2005, August 2004, February 2004, August 2003, February 2003, August 2002, February 2002 and August 2001. Moreover, in response to a request from the Federation of Euro-Asian Stock Exchanges, a first survey of websites of the ten largest listed companies (by market capitalization) in Greece and Turkey is also published.
The survey demonstrates that online disclosure in CEE has improved since the last survey, conducted in February 2005. In particular, the number of companies with local-language and English-language websites has increased to the highest levels recorded since the PFS Program began its surveys in August 2001.
Survey results include the following:
· In August 2005, 97% of the CEE companies surveyed have a local-language website. This is the highest percentage recorded since the first survey, conducted in August 2001. In February 2005, 95% of the companies surveyed had a local-language website.
· In August 2005, 87% of the CEE companies surveyed have an English-language website. This is also the highest percentage recorded since the first survey. In February 2005, 82% of the companies surveyed had an English-language website. Furthermore, there has been improvement in the underperformers; now, in each of the 11 countries at least 7 of the 10 companies surveyed have an English-language website. In February 2005, in two countries only 6 of the 10 companies surveyed had an English-language website.
The PFS Program surveys analyze the websites of the ten largest listed companies in the above-mentioned eleven CEE countries in order to document the current disclosure practices of this “blue-chip” peer group and identify best practice among the peer group. Whereas the universe of companies surveyed may change over time due to changes in a company’s market capitalization, the ongoing surveys represent a snapshot of this peer group’s disclosure practices on a given day twice a year and thereby provide insights into blue-chip companies’ corporate governance and investor relations practices.
A comparison of the results of the ninth survey of the eleven CEE countries and the first survey of Greece and Turkey includes the following:
· 97% of the companies surveyed in the eleven CEE countries have a local-language website compared with 90% in Greece and 90% in Turkey;
· 87% of the companies surveyed in the eleven CEE countries have an English-language website compared with 90% in Greece and 90% in Turkey;
· 78% of the companies surveyed in the eleven CEE countries provide a list of management online compared with 70% in Greece and 70% in Turkey;
· 40% of the companies surveyed in the eleven CEE countries provide additional information on management online compared with 50% in Greece and 50% in Turkey;
· 69% of the companies surveyed in the eleven CEE countries provide a list of board members online compared with 90% in Greece and 80% in Turkey; and
· 29% of the companies surveyed in the eleven CEE countries provide additional information on board members online compared with 60% in Greece and 50% in Turkey.
The first-time survey of Greece and Turkey enables the comparison of the disclosure practices of the CEE blue-chip peer group with peers in neighboring countries, one an EU member state and the other a neighboring emerging market.
Note: The survey, consisting of databases of results by company and a presentation of the results by country, contains the following information: current data on companies in all eleven CEE countries; separate data on companies in the Eight New Member States of the European Union (EU); separate data on companies in Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania; comparisons of the data from August 2005 with data from the previous surveys conducted in February 2005, August 2004, February 2004, August 2003, February 2003, August 2002, February 2002 and August 2001; and separate data on companies in Greece and Turkey.
To download the survey and the background databases, please click on the links below:
Tuesday, May 10, 2005
Fourth Semi-Annual Survey of Reporting on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by the Largest Listed Companies in Central and Eastern Europe
Budapest, Hungary
Today, the Partners for Financial Stability (PFS) Program publishes its fourth semi-annual Survey of Reporting on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by the 10 Largest Listed Companies (by market capitalization) in eleven Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. Companies in Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia were surveyed for the fourth time; companies in Hungary and Poland were surveyed for the third time; and companies in Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania were surveyed for the second time.
The survey was conducted by PFS Program interns Szymon Gawel, Monika Sowinska and Dominika Sipowicz.
The survey analyzes companies’ disclosures in English on the English-language company website and in the English-language annual report during April 2005. It documents a generally similar level of disclosure on company websites to that observed in August 2004 across all three information categories analyzed – corporate governance, environmental policy and social policy. However, in certain countries, availability of English-language websites has increased. Also, corporate governance codes significantly impact reporting on corporate governance issues in certain countries.
In Latvia, Lithuania and Slovenia all 10 of the companies surveyed have an English-language website; however, companies in Latvia and Lithuania generally did not disclose information on all three categories surveyed. In Hungary, nine of the 10 companies have an English-language website. In general, companies in Hungary, Poland and Slovenia disclosed the most information online. The level of disclosure decreased in Bulgaria and Romania, perhaps due to the fact that due to changes in market capitalization the universe of companies surveyed changed significantly. Approximately half of the companies in each country were surveyed for the first time. By contrast, the level of disclosure improved in Croatia.
Survey findings include the following:
· 83% of the companies surveyed have an English language website (compared with 86% in August 2004 and 85% in April 2003);
· 71% of the companies surveyed disclose information about their governance structure on their websites (compared with 69% in August 2004 and 50% in April 2004);
· 41% of the companies surveyed mention compliance with environmental standards on their websites (compared with 37% in August 2004 and 28% in April 2004);
· 37% of the companies surveyed disclose information about sponsorships on their websites (compared with 28% in August 2004 and 31% in April 2004); and
· 20% of the companies surveyed note compliance with a corporate governance code on their websites (whereas in August 2004 the percentage was 7%).
Comparisons with disclosure in annual reports is not as relevant in this survey, since as of April 15, 2005 many companies have not yet published their 2004 annual report online. However, it should be noted that Estonia is the clear exception in the region. By April 15, 2005 each of the 10 Estonian companies surveyed had published an English-language version of their annual report online. However, it should be noted that in many cases the annual report is only available on the website of the Tallinn Stock Exchange. Nevertheless, in each of the four surveys to date, all 10 Estonian companies provided electronic versions of their annual report online. This was not the case in any of the other 10 countries.
The fifth survey, to be published in August 2005, will compare disclosure in annual reports with disclosures made in August 2004. It will also continue to track trends in reporting on company websites.
To download the background database and the survey, please click on the links below:
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
Presentation to a Delegation from the Government Inspectorate of Vietnam visiting Hungary
Budapest, Hungary
On Tuesday, March 15, 2005 Geoffrey Mazullo, Director, PFS Program gave a presentation entitled, “Corporate and Business Ethics in the Post-Communist Transition” to a delegation from the Government Inspectorate of Vietnam. The presentation included data from surveys conducted and co-financed by the PFS Program as well as information regarding best practice and international standards in business ethics, corporate governance and the promotion of more transparency in corporations in Central and Eastern Europe as well as globally.
The delegation from the Government Inspectorate of Vietnam spent one week in Sweden and one week in Hungary on a study tour sponsored by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA). The purpose of the study tour was twofold: (1) to study each country’s legislation regarding the prevention and combat of corruption; and (2) to meet with specialists to discuss practical cases and experiences in each country. In Hungary, the discussions focused on anti-corruption experiences in the context of economic transition and transformation, particularly with regard to the privatization of former state-owned enterprises.
To download the PFS Program presentation, please click on the link below:
Wednesday, March 2, 2005
Investor Relations Online: Survey of Websites of the Largest Listed Companies in CEE
PFS Program Intern Szymon Gawel conducted the PFS Program’s eighth semi-annual survey of online investor relations of the 10 largest listed companies (by market capitalization) in Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. In addition to Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovak Republic and Slovenia this survey includes Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania for the second time.
The survey demonstrates slightly improved online disclosure by the largest listed companies in the eight new member states of the European Union (EU) and slightly poorer yet generally stable second time survey results in the three EU-accession countries.
Investor Relations Online: Survey of Websites of the Largest Listed Companies in CEE analyses the websites of the ten largest listed companies (by market capitalization) in each of the following CEE countries: Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovak Republic and Slovenia. The survey provides current data as of February 21, 2005 and comparisons with the seven previous surveys, published in August 2004, February 2004, August 2003, February 2003, August 2002, February 2002 and August 2001.
As in the most recent survey, the percentage of companies with a local-language website remains at 95%. In August 2004, 95% of the companies surveyed had a website.
In February 2005, 82% of the companies surveyed have an English-language website, in comparison with 84% in August 2004.
When taken as a group of eleven countries, the results in all categories surveyed remained relatively stable. However, when analyzing the eight new member states of the European Union (EU) separately, a slightly improved disclosure policy can be observed.
Survey findings of the eight new member states of the EU include the following:
97% of the companies surveyed have a local language website (compared with 95% in August 2004);
87% have an English-language website (compared with 84% in August 2004);
80% provide a list of management online (compared with 84% in August 2004);
43% provide additional information on management online (compared with 38% in August 2004);
70% provide a list of board members online (compared with 70% in August 2004); and
29% provide additional information on board members online (compared with 23% in August 2004).
Three of the 110 companies surveyed provide information about the number of shares owned by each member of management and the supervisory board.
The findings of this second survey of companies in Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania show a slight decease in online disclosure in comparison with August 2004; however, in general the thresholds are rather stable.
The PFS Program hopes that the surveys represent an ongoing contribution towards independent research in these eleven CEE countries. A research paper produced by the working group Independent Research Think Tank and published on February 11, 2005 called for more independent research in the EU. George Möller, chief executive of Robeco, and leader of the working group, opines, “Independent research is an important element in the maintenance of integrity in the marketplace, as it offers investors a neutral analysis of a company’s prospects.”
To download the survey and the background database, please click on the links below:
Tuesday, September 28, 2004
Third Semi-Annual Survey of Reporting on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by the Largest Listed Companies in Central and Eastern Europe
Budapest, Hungary
Today, the PFS Program publishes its third semi-annual Survey of Reporting on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by the 10 Largest Listed Companies (by Market Capitalization) in Central and Eastern Europe. Companies in Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia were surveyed for the third time. Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania were included in the survey for the first time. The survey was conducted by PFS Program Interns Marek Korycki, Izabela Samson, Zuzana Schwartzova and Adam Szymasiuk.
The survey provides current data concerning companies’ disclosures on a range of CSR issues in annual reports and on websites as of August 15, 2004. For the companies from the eight new member states of the European Union (EU), comparative data from the previous surveys conducted in April 2004 and August 2003 is presented
In general, disclosures on CSR issues were similar to those observed in the survey conducted in April 2004. However, the survey demonstrates improvement in the quality and quantity of disclosures about corporate governance issues. As noted in the survey conducted in spring 2004, EU accession and adoption of corporate governance codes in several countries in 2003/2004 are two factors influencing broader and deeper reporting.
Survey findings include the following:
· 86% of the companies surveyed have an English language website (compared with 85% in April 2004 and 85% in August 2003);
· 74% of the companies surveyed provide an electronic version of the English-language annual report for 2003 (compared with 76% of the companies who provided a 2002 or 2003 annual report in April 2004);
· 99% of the companies surveyed disclose information about their governance structure in their annual report (compared with 59% in April 2004 and 40% in August 2003);
· 35% of the companies surveyed note compliance with environmental standards in their annual report (the same percentage as in April 2004 whereas in Augsut 2003 the percentage was 19%); and
· 51% of the companies surveyed mention employee development or benefits policy in their annual report (compared with 49% in April 2004 and 34% in August 2003).
In terms of disclosures made on company websites, other comparative findings include the following:
· In August 2004, 53% of the companies surveyed disclosed information about their shareholder rights policy; in April 2004, 51% of companies disclosed this information; and in August 2003, 14% of companies disclosed this information.
· In August 2004, 31% of the companies surveyed provided information about their environmental performance; in April 2004, 28% of companies provided this information; and in August 2003, 14% of companies surveyed provided this information;
· In August 2004, 17% of companies provided information about compliance with labor standards; in April 2004, 21% of companies provided this information; and in August 2004 only 3% of companies provided this information.
The first time results for Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania are positive; whereas few companies disclose complete information in English on all three information categories surveyed, at least one company from each country disclosed information on each of the five questions in each of the three categories. This demonstrates an awareness of these issues in each country.
To download the survey and the background databases, please click on the links below:
Monday, September 13, 2004
Investor Relations magazine Central and Eastern Europe Conference & Awards 2004
Budapest, Hungary
On Monday, September 13, 2003 Investor Relations magazine held its third annual Central and Eastern Europe Investor Relations Conference & Awards. This year’s venue was Budapest, Hungary following last year’s event in Warsaw, Poland and the inaugural event in Budapest in September 2001.
The Budapest Stock Exchange and the PFS Program were two of the many sponsors; for the third year in a row, the PFS Program co-financed the independent research that selected the award winners.
Participants representing institutional investors, listed companies, regulatory authorities, self-regulatory organizations, service providers and stock exchanges from across Central and Eastern Europe as well as the European Union and the United States attended. Mr. Mazullo presented the PFS Program’s third semi-annual Survey of Reporting on Corporate Social Responsibility by the Largest Listed Companies in CEE. Please click on this link to Investor Relations magazine to read a list of the companies and individuals who received awards.
Wednesday, May 5, 2004
Second Semi-Annual Survey of Reporting on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by the Largest Listed Companies in Central and Eastern Europe
Budapest, Hungary
Today, the PFS Program publishes its second semi-annual Survey of Reporting on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by the 10 Largest Listed Companies (by Market Capitalization) in Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. The survey was conducted by PFS Program Interns Katarzyna Hanula and Marek Korycki.
The survey provides current data concerning companies’ disclosures on a range of CSR issues as of April 15, 2004 and a comparison with the previous survey conducted in August 2003. Comparative data from the previous year is not available for Hungarian and Polish companies, since the surveys conducted in those countries in 2003 analyzed information provided in Hungarian and Polish respectively. Additionally this survey analyzes disclosures related to corporate governance codes in those countries with such a code, i.e. Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. The survey conducted in 2003 did not analyze such disclosures, because a corporate governance code either did not yet exist or had only recently been issued in the respective country.
The survey demonstrates that disclosures on CSR issues increased significantly over the past six months. Survey findings include the following:
-85% of the companies surveyed have an English language website;
-76% of the companies surveyed provide an English-language annual report for 2002 or 2003;
-59% of the companies surveyed mention employee development or benefits policy;
-51% of the companies surveyed note compliance with environmental standards; and
-20% of the companies surveyed disclose information regarding compliance with a Corporate Governance Code.
Comparative findings include the following:
-In April 2004, 40% of the companies surveyed disclosed information regarding the environmental impact of their operations; in August 2003, only 22% of companies surveyed provided this information.
-In April 2004, 36% of the companies surveyed provided audit-related information on their website; in August 2003 only 13% of companies surveyed provided this information;
Two significant factors influenced the improved results observed in this survey. First, several stock exchanges implemented corporate governance codes in 2003 and 2004. These codes provide an additional impetus/pressure to disclose a variety of data. Second, Hungary and Poland are covered by this regional survey for the first time and the above-average disclosures of Hungarian and Polish companies improved the general (regional) averages. For example, excluding Hungary and Poland, the above-mentioned averages decline to 30% (environmental impact) and 35% (audit-related information) respectively. Nevertheless, even without including these countries, a marked improvement can be observed.
The PFS Program will continue to analyze this issue; we will conduct a third semi-annual Survey in August 2004.
To download the background database and a presentation of the survey results, please click on the links below:
Thursday, March 25, 2004
Country Study: “Survey of Reporting on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by Listed Companies in Hungary”
Budapest, Hungary
On Thursday, March 25, 2004 Hungarian Environmental Economics Center (MAKK) released its first “Survey of Reporting on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by Listed Companies in Hungary.” The survey is part of a wider regional initiative organized by East-West Management Institute’s Partners for Financial Stability (PFS) Program.
The Survey of Reporting on CSR by Listed Companies in Hungary was conducted during the time period August - November 2003. It investigates Hungarian-language information available in the 2002 annual reports and websites of 27 companies listed on the Budapest Stock Exchange.
Encompassing corporate governance, environmental policies and social policies, the Hungarian survey employs the same template used by the PFS Program in its Survey of Reporting on CSR by the Largest Listed Companies in Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovak Republic and Slovenia, published in September 2003. In addition, country studies of listed companies in Czech Republic and Poland have been completed using the same template. (The Czech survey was published on this page of the PFS Program website on March 8, 2004. The Polish survey was published on this page of the PFS Program website on December 18, 2003.) As a result, the group of surveys should enable for the first time benchmarking of reporting on CSR in these countries against other countries in the European Union (EU) and elsewhere.
Survey findings include the following:
· 89% of Hungarian listed companies disclose relevant CSR information.
· 70% disclose shareholder rights policy and 56% provide information on corporate governance structure.
· In the field of environmental policy, 41% report on adherence to environmental standards and 37% disclose data about their environmental performance.
· In the social policy sphere, 56% of listed companies disclose employee development/employee benefit policies and 52% disclose information regarding community patronage/sponsorship programs.
To download the survey and a presentation of the survey results, please click on the links below:
Wednesday, March 24, 2004
Second Workshop on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): Reporting on CSR by CEE Listed Companies
Budapest, Hungary
On March 24, 2004 the Center for the Social Foundations of Business held the Second Workshop in its series on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), entitled “Reporting on CSR by CEE Listed Companies." It took place from 17:00 – 19:00 at the Graduate Business School of the Central European University.
Professor Heather Elms, Associate Professor of Strategy and Ethics, opened the workshop with an introduction to the topic and a brief summary of the first workshop held in November 2003. She placed CSR within the context of the social contracts approach to the corporation and outlined the distinction between the shareholder and the stakeholder models of the corporation. She then posed three questions to the workshop participants:
1. What social responsibilities do corporations have?
2. How should CSR be reported and measured?
3. What social responsibilities do shareholders have?
Mr. Geoffrey Mazullo, Director, PFS Program, presented data surveyed by the PFS Program, namely: The PFS Program’s six Surveys of Online Investor Relations of the Largest Listed Companies in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), conducted semi-annually since September 2001; and the inaugural Survey of Reporting on CSR by the Largest Listed Companies in CEE, published on the capital markets research page of this website on September 4, 2003.
Mr. Mazullo also presented data from the Survey of Reporting on CSR by Banks, Financial Institutions and Listed Companies in Poland, conducted by The Gdansk Institute for Market Economics and the Survey of Reporting on CSR by Listed Companies in Czech Republic, conducted by The Leadership Forum Prague. (The former was published on the capital markets research page of this website on December 18, 2003; the latter was published on the capital markets research page of this website on March 8, 2004.)
Mr. Jozsef Fucsko, Research Director, Hungarian Environmental Economics Center (MAKK) presented his institution’s Survey of Reporting on CSR by Listed Companies in Hungary. (The full survey may be found on the capital markets research page of this website.)
Mr. Gyorgy Mohai, Deputy CEO, Budapest Stock Exchange, commented on the three presentations. He noted four key issues:
- Fund managers often base their decision on whether or not to invest in a company on the quality of the CEO and senior management.
- The CEO and company management play a key role in implementing CSR policies within the company.
- The company’s industry plays a role in determining its CSR policies.
- The company’s shareholder structure impacts its CSR policies.
CEU students and professors as well as representatives of Hungarian investment firms, Hungarian Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), and multinational companies participated in the workshop.
During the question and answer session, speakers and participants debated the distinction between disclosure (reporting) and actual performance. In particular, they raised the question of whether a company’s claims to socially responsible are more important that its actual CSR activities. In this context, it was noted that disclosure is of particular importance for listed companies, the universe of companies covered by the surveys presented here. Participants also discussed which constituencies (consumers, individual Hungarian shareholders, institutional shareholders [Hungarian pension funds; foreign investment funds], regulatory authorities, researchers, students and others) would be most interested in obtaining CSR information from listed companies in Hungary and other CEE countries.
To download the workshop agenda and presentations, please click on the links below:
Monday, March 1, 2004
Investor Relations Online: Survey of Websites of the Largest Listed Companies in CEE
PFS Program Intern Katarzyna Hanula conducted the PFS Program’s sixth semi-annual survey of online investor relations of the 10 largest listed companies (by market capitalization) in each of the following countries: Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovak Republic and Slovenia. The survey provides current data and comparisons with the five previous surveys, completed in August 2003, February 2003, August 2002, February 2002 and August 2001.
The survey demonstrates that a majority of the largest listed in the region communicate with shareholders and potential investors via the Internet, in local language and in English. Nevertheless, comparison of this survey with the two surveys conducted in 2003 indicates that certain thresholds have been reached, and further improvements above these thresholds have not been made. For example: in February 2004, 95% of the companies surveyed have a website (in comparison with 96% in August 2003 and 95% in February 2003) and 75% have an English-language website (in comparison with 83% in August 2003 and 80% in February 2003).
Furthermore, as noted in previous surveys, many companies still do not provide additional information in English about management and supervisory board members. The survey suggests that “best practice” would include a separate page of the website dedicated to investor relations, including a photo and short biography of each senior manager and each member of the board of directors/supervisory board.
To download the survey and the background database, please click on the links below:
Wednesday, December 31, 2003
Conclusion of PFS Program Regional Activities in Five Central and Eastern European Countries
Budapest, Hungary
On December 31, 2003 EWMI concluded PFS Program regional activities in Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovak Republic and Slovenia. From 2000 through 2003, the PFS Program (active in the above countries as well as in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) was funded under a cooperative agreement between the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and EWMI.
Beginning January 1, 2004 EWMI will continue to cooperate on specific financial sector reform initiatives in the five above-mentioned Central and Eastern European countries on a case-by-case basis.
Under a new grant from the US Department of State, EWMI will continue PFS Program activities in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania through June 30, 2004.
Tuesday, December 30, 2003
Research Report: “Investment Strategies of Pension Funds in CEE Countries”
Budapest, Hungary
On Tuesday, December 30, 2003 FI-AD Financial Advisory Ltd. (Budapest, Hungary) published the final version of its research report, “Investment Strategies of Pension Funds in CEE Countries” on its website and on the PSF Program website. This research, co-financed by a PFS Program Grant, represented a significant contribution of valuable comparative data to the PFS Program/INPRS comprehensive pension reform initiative involving all eight CEE countries that will join the European Union (EU) on May 1, 2004.
The report’s authors presented excerpts from the research at the 5th CEE INPRS Regional INPRS Seminar on Private Pensions: Security of Future Benefits, held in Prague, Czech Republic on December 4-5, 2003.
To download the research report, please click on the link below:
Thursday, December 11, 2003
Second Annual Regional Symposium on Registered Pledge Systems in Transition Economies
Budapest, Hungary
On December 11, 2003 the PFS Program, in cooperation with the Association of Latvian Commercial Banks and the Gdansk Academy of Banking, held a Second Annual Regional Symposium on Registered Pledge Systems in Transition Economies. 19 persons, representing Hungary, Latvia, Norway, Poland, Serbia, Slovak Republic and the US, attended the Regional Symposium.
To download the agenda, presentations and list of participants, please click on the links below:
Wednesday, November 19, 2003
Workshop on Corporate Social Responsibility: Measurement and Reporting
Budapest, Hungary
On November 19, 2003 the Center for the Social Foundations of Business held a workshop entitled, "Corporate Social Responsibility: Measurement and Reporting" from 17:00 – 19:00 at the Graduate Business School of the Central European University.
Professor Heather Elms, Associate Professor of Strategy and Ethics, opened the workshop with an introduction to the subject, outlining the origins of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the social-contracts approach to the corporation. Professor Elms explained that whereas CSR is consistently viewed as a multi-dimensional construct, measurement to date has largely been either single-dimensional or multiple-dimensional but aggregated, thereby making measurement difficult. Single-dimension measurement does not capture the breadth of the construct and/or doesn’t allow for comparison across companies or industries. Multi- but aggregated-dimension measurement produces a number of difficulties: the meaning and the richness of the data can be lost in details; weighting of the various factors is an issue; dimensions may not correlate and again, it may be difficult to compare across companies or industries. Furthermore, Dr. Elms noted that measurement is very dependent on reporting.
Mr. Geoffrey Mazullo, Director, PFS Program, analyzed the current state of corporate reporting by listed companies in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). He presented the PFS Program’s semi-annual Surveys of Online Investor Relations of the Largest Listed Companies in CEE, conducted since September 2001, and outlined the background to the inaugural Survey of Reporting on CSR by the Largest Listed Companies in CEE published in September 2003. He described the process whereby the PFS Program developed its standard profile for reporting on CSR, including three categories of information: corporate governance, environmental policy and social policy.
This analysis of concrete data from the region was complemented by two company presentations.
Ms. Zsuzsanna Toth, Social Reporting Manager, British American Tobacco (BAT) described the company’s strategy as follows: “To be recognized as a responsible company in an industry seen as controversial.” She explained BAT’s “Responsible Company Strategy” and described its process of social reporting.
In contrast to this general discussion of CSR, Ms. Beata Kiss, Director, Corporate Affairs, Danone Kft. presented in detail one of the company’s successful social initiatives, the TEGY program. She explained how this program was integrated into Danone’s overall marketing through Cause Related Marketing (CSR) tools.
Following the three presentations, Mr. Karoly Nagy, Human Resources and Public Affairs Manage, Philips Hungary moderated a discussion on the following issues:
- The relationship between CSR and financial performance;
- The impact of the bottom line on CSR;
- The definition of CSR – something extra or something inherent in the company;
- Customer recognition of CRM and the company; and
- Whether CSR improves the company’s attractiveness to future/potential employees.
CEU students and professors as well as representatives of Hungarian companies, Hungarian Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and multinational companies participated in the workshop.
To download the workshop agenda and presentations, please click on the links below:
Monday, October 6, 2003
Investor Relations Online - Survey of Websites of Hungarian Listed Companies - 2003
In September 2003 PFS Program Intern Philipp-Emanuel Pap conducted an inaugural Survey of Online Investor Relations of Hungarian Companies Listed on the Budapest Stock Exchange. This is the PFS Program’s first in-depth survey of the online investor relations practices of all Hungarian listed companies. It adds to and complements the PFS Program’s ongoing research in this area, namely the regional surveys of online investor relations of the largest listed companies in Central and Eastern Europe conducted semi-annually as well as the annual surveys of online investor relations of Polish companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.
To download the survey, please click on the link below:
Thursday, May 8, 2003
PFS Program Grants to MAKK Hungarian Environmental Economics Center and The Gdansk Institute for Market Economics
The PFS Program awarded a PFS Program Grant to MAKK Hungarian Environmental Economics Center to conduct a “Survey of Reporting on Corporate Social Responsibility by Listed Companies in Hungary” and a PFS Program Grant to The Gdansk Institute for Market Economics to conduct a “Survey of Reporting on Corporate Social Responsibility by Banks, Financial Institutions and Listed Companies in the Poland.” The surveys will be completed in autumn 2003 and published on the websites of the respective institutions and the PFS Program.
Saturday, February 22, 2003 - Saturday, March 1, 2003
Study Tour to the United States for Internal Auditors of CEE Consolidated Financial Supervisory Authorities
Washington, DC and Philadelphia, PA
The PFS Program organized a study tour on internal audit for staff of the following institutions (in alphabetical order by country): Estonian Financial Supervisory Authority; Hungarian Financial Supervisory Authority; Latvian Financial and Capital Markets Commission; Supervisory Commission for Insurance and Pension Funds (Poland); Slovak Financial Market Authority.
The study tour visited the following institutions (in alphabetical order) in Philadelphia, PA and Washington, DC: City of Philadelphia – Office of the City Controller; Department of Insurance and Securities Regulation (DISR) of the District of
Columbia; Ignet - Website of the Federal Inspectors General; International Insurance Foundation; National Association of Insurance Commissioners; National Association of Securities Dealers; United States Agency for International Development; United States Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; United States Federal Reserve Board; United States Department of the Treasury; United States Securities and Exchange Commission.
Wednesday, January 22, 2003
Survey of Reporting on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by the Largest Listed Companies in Hungary
The PFS Program has conducted a pilot research study on reporting on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by the 10 largest listed companies (by market capitalization) in Hungary. The survey analyzed each company’s 2001 annual report and website for information disclosed about the company’s CSR activities and policies. The research was conducted by Bence Lanyi, Research Associate, PFS Program.
The survey indicates that whereas CSR activities/policies of the 10 largest listed companies vary widely, manufacturing companies currently offer the most information about their environmental activities, impact and policies. Of the 10 companies surveyed: four disclosed comprehensive information about their environmental policy; and four reported on CSR and issues related to Socially Responsible Investment (SRI). Two companies do not mention CSR or SRI in the information currently available on their websites.
The PFS Program will conduct a similar survey of the 10 largest listed companies in the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovak Republic and Slovenia during the first quarter of 2003.
To download the survey, please click on the link below:
Monday, January 20, 2003
Publication of Research Report entitled, “Past Redistribution and Future Imbalances: Generational Accounts in the Hungarian Pension System”
Budapest, Hungary
In this paper Mr. Robert Gal and co-authors from TARKI, a Hungarian research institute, present a quantitative analysis of past redistribution between first-comer and late-comer generations and future imbalances in the Hungarian pension system. The results of the research identify specific measures of generational imbalance (both with and without the 1998 pension reform in Hungary) and different measures of redistribution among generations.
The research study also included the collection of data about the Hungarian pension system, as far back as the beginning of the state pension system in the 1950s.
The method of calculation employed is known as generational accounting, developed by Alan Auerbach and Laurence Kotlikoff of Harvard University. Generational accounting is a particularly well-suited tool to demonstrate the effect of changes in redistributive budgetary systems, such as the above-mentioned Hungarian pension reform. In order to quantify the impact of the reform on the long-term future sustainability of the system, TARKI analyzed pension data from 2000 using generational accounting. The results show that pension reform considerably reduced the severe imbalance that existed in the system prior to the reform; as a consequence of the reform, approximately three-quarters of the net losses awaiting future generations were wiped out.
The original method of generational accounting does not take into account redistribution among generations in the past. However, if the process is completed with retrospective calculations, i.e. former contributions and benefits are taken into account, redistribution among generations can be measured directly. This application of the method might be used to observe ‘loser’ and ‘winner’ cohorts. The results coincide with international experience and show significant redistribution in favor of the first generations that enter the Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) system. However, the authors demonstrate that the majority of today’s living population, including a sizeable portion of pensioners, are losers in the PAYG pension system.
To download the research report, please click on the link below.
Thursday, September 26, 2002
Conference on Financing Small and Medium Size Enterprises (SMEs) in Central and Eastern Europe
Budapest, Hungary
On September 26, 2002, Bancraft Kft. organized a Conference on Financing SMEs in Central and Eastern Europe. The PFS Program contributed to this event by covering the costs of two speakers: Ewa Balcerowicz, Vice President, CASE Foundation, Poland; and Philip Bylund, Director of International Strategy and Special Initiatives, Community Development Venture Capital Alliance, New York, USA. Ms. Balcerowicz spoke on SME development policy in Poland and reported on the results of a recent survey of Polish SMEs. Mr. Bylund spoke about SME finance in the US, the role of the Federal and state governments, community funds and business angels.
The objectives of the conference were to identify opportunities for financing SMEs in Central Eastern Europe and find solutions for the issues of poor capitalization and financing, building on the experiences of the European Union and the United States.
To download the agenda and presentations, please visit the website of Bancraft Kft.
Saturday, June 1, 2002
Country Studies: The Economic Impact of Registered Pledge Systems in Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Lithuania and Poland
In 2001/2002, the PFS Program co-financed five country studies: Each
study analyzed the economic impact of the registered pledge system in the
respective country. The Albanian study
was co-financed by the Albanian Economic
Research Center; the Bulgarian study was co-financed by the Center for Economic Development; the Hungarian
study was co-financed by the International
Center for Economic Growth European Center; the Lithuanian study was
co-financed by the Lithuanian Free Market
Institute; and the Polish study was co-financed by The Gdansk Institute for Market Economics
To download the studies, please click on the appropriate link below:
Wednesday, May 8, 2002
Investor Relations Seminar
Budapest, Hungary
On Wednesday, May 8, 2002 the PFS Program, in cooperation with the Budapest Stock Exchange, organized a seminar entitled, "Best Practices for Investor Relations Professionals" in Budapest, Hungary. 40 participants representing Hungarian companies, the investment community and regulatory authorities, as well as representatives of the Bratislava Stock Exchange, the Slovak Association of Securities Dealers and the Varazdin OTC Market, Inc. attended the seminar. In October 2001, the Budapest Stock Exchange and the PFS Program held a seminar entitled, “Investor Relations: A Prerequisite for Raising Capital”, in Budapest. This seminar was a follow-up to that event, and covered topics including: International Accounting Standards (IAS); corporate governance; disclosure requirements; online investor relations; and public relations. This event is part of a series of investor relations seminars the PFS Program is conducting in cooperation with Central and Eastern European Stock Exchanges throughout 2001 and 2002.
To download the agenda and presentations, please click on the links below:
 | Agenda - Best Practices for Investor Relations Professionals (English).rtf - 14 KB |
| Agenda - Best Practices for Investor Relations Professionals (Hungarian).rtf - 6,885 KB |
| Presentation - David Cairns - May 8, 2002.ppt - 68 KB |
| Presentation - Standard & Poor's - Budapest, Hungary - May 8, 2002.ppt - 189 KB |
| Presentation - ECC Kohtes Klewes GmbH - May 8, 2002.ppt - 2,652 KB |
| Presentation - HFSA - May 8, 2002 (English).ppt - 98 KB |
| Presentation - HFSA - May 8, 2002 (Hungarian).ppt - 81 KB |
| Presentation - Geoffrey Mazullo, Director, PFS Program - May 8, 2002.ppt - 171 KB |
| Presentation - Investor Relations Magazine - May 8, 2002 .ppt - 489 KB |
Thursday, April 11, 2002 - Friday, April 12, 2002
The CEE Regional INPRS Seminar on Investment of Private Pension Funds
Budapest, Hungary
On April 11-12, 2002 the Partners for Financial Stability (PFS) Program of the East-West Management Institute, Inc. (EWMI), the International Network of Pension Regulators and Supervisors (INPRS), and the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) held the Second CEE Regional INPRS Seminar on Investment of Private Pension Funds in Budapest, Hungary. The host of the Seminar was the Hungarian Financial Supervisory Authority (HFSA).
Objective of the Seminar was to provide forum for information exchange on private pension fund investment. The key distinction of funded and pay-as-you-go pension systems is the way of financing. The assets of complimentary private pension funds should be invested so that to achieve the objectives, which distinguish this arrangement: namely the different risks and solidarity involved, as well as effectiveness and redistribution strategies. In the 1990s investment and risk management techniques have improved significantly. The recent, and recurring stock market crises have affected pension assets, as well investment strategies, therefore the time of decay became shorter. The reformed pension systems of the Central and Eastern European Countries (CEE) are even more exposed to the consequences, as all of them in the implementation and accumulation phase of defined contribution funded systems.
More than 70 participants, such as regional pension regulators and supervisors, international organizations of interest in private pensions, federations and associations of asset managers and pension funds attended the Seminar from 20 countries.
To download the agenda and presentations, please click on the links below:
Wednesday, February 20, 2002
CalPERS Announcement
Sacramento, California
On February 20, 2002 the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) – one of the largest public pension funds in the United States - announced that it was selling its investments in several Southeast Asian emerging markets and reallocating its portfolio based on specific investment criteria. CalPERS, established in 1932, today has a managed asset value of US$151.8 billion, US$1billion of which is allocated for emerging market investment in 2002. Considering the relatively small size of the emerging markets where CalPERS may invest and the potential knock-on effect by other institutional investors who might follow CalPERS lead, this decision could significantly impact investment in several countries over the medium and long-term.
As a result of its new investment analysis, CalPERS will begin or continue to invest in publicly traded companies in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Czech Republic, Hungary, Israel, Mexico, Peru, Poland, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan and Turkey while simultaneously divesting its holdings in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand. (CalPERS was not able to invest in Hungary or Poland before this new analysis was completed; it already was able to invest in Czech Republic.)
Below is an abstract from the analysis of all the above emerging markets. Each market was analyzed with respect to three country factors and five market factors. In the six countries presented here, the ratings for each subcategory ranged from 1 (poor) to 3 (good).
 |
|
Argentina |
Czech Republic |
Hungary |
Poland |
Russia |
Turkey |
Country
Factors
(50%) |
Political stability(17%) |
2 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
| Transparency(16%) |
3 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
Productive labor
practices(17%) |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
Market
Factors
(50%) |
Market liquidity
and volatility (10%) |
2 |
1 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
3 |
Market regulation
/Legal system/
Investor protection (15%) |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
Capital market
openness (10%) |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
3 |
| Settlement proficiency (10%) |
2 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
| Transaction costs (5%) |
3 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
| Overall |
Overall average results |
2.63 |
2.25 |
2.5 |
2.39 |
1.15 |
2.02 |
Ranking of emerging
countries |
1 |
8 |
4 |
6 |
27 |
13 |
Based on the weighted overall average figures, the emerging markets were ranked: Argentina ranked first and Russia last. CalPERS’ investment managers may invest in any market with a weighted average result of at least 2.00.
Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland received quite similar ratings, ranging between 2.25 and 2.5. According to CalPERS, the most significant issues are: low liquidity in the Czech Republic; relatively poor market regulation and legal system (bankruptcy legislation, creditors rights and shareholder protection) in all three counties; and poor settlement systems in Czech Republic and Hungary.
Although CalPERS was already able to invest in Czech Republic before the February 20, 2002 announcement, both Hungary and Poland – newcomers to the list of countries where CalPERS may invest - scored slightly higher ratings than the Czech Republic in this new analysis.
For further information on the CalPERSannouncement, please visit the CalPERS website and its Press Archive for February 20, 2002.
Wednesday, October 10, 2001
Investor Relations Seminar
Budapest, Hungary
On Wednesday, October 10, 2001 the PFS Program, in cooperation with the
Budapest Stock Exchange,
organized a seminar entitled, "Effective Investor Relations - A Prerequisite for Raising Capital" in Riga, Latvia. 50 participants representing Hungarian companies and the Hungarian investment community, as well as representatives of the
Prague Stock Exchange, the
National Stock Exchange of Lithuania, the
Warsaw Stock Exchange, the
Bratislava Stock Exchange and the
Ljubljana Stock Exchange attended the seminar. The seminar is part of a series of investor relations seminars the PFS Program is conducting in cooperation with Central and Eastern European Stock Exchanges throughout 2001.
To download the agenda and presentations, please click on the links below:
Friday, June 22, 2001
Bank Restructuring Seminar
Sofia, Bulgaria
The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) hosted a regional seminar on bank restructuring, entitled, "Restructuring and Development of the Banking Sector in Advanced Transition Economies: Lessons for Bulgaria'' on June 22, 2001 in Sofia, Bulgaria. PFS grants to EPI (Bulgaria), IES (Czech Republic), ICEG (Hungary) and CASE (Poland) co-financed country studies and a comparative study presented at the seminar. Participants from Albania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Romania and Yugoslavia attended the seminar.
To dowload the presentations, please click on the link below, then choose Publications from the left menu, and scroll down to Discussion Papers. The presentations are under Nr. 8 and 10.
Tuesday, April 24, 2001 - Saturday, April 28, 2001
Banking Study Tour
Budapest, Hungary
From April 24 - 28, 2001 the Hungarian Banking Association hosted delegations from the The Estonian Banking Association and the Association of Latvian Commercial Banks in Budapest to discuss issues of bank security and prevention of money laundering. The study tour and roundtable were co-sponsored by the PFS Program.
Wednesday, March 28, 2001
UK Investor Relations Society - 2001 Annual Conference
London, United Kingdom
In March 2001, the PFS Program sponsored the participation of the Budapest Stock Exchange in the 2001 annual conference of the Investor Relations Society in London, UK. Representatives of five other Central and Eastern European (CEE) stock exchanges participated in this PFS-sponsored initiative to promote awareness of and launch training on investor relations for CEE issuers.
Thursday, February 1, 2001
Regulatory Environment
In February 2001, the The Hungarian Financial Supervisory Authority provided the PFS Program with data for the PFS comparative study of corporate governance and shareholders' rights in Central and Eastern Europe. The Authority also provided PFS with information on the regulatory environment for business in Hungary (see below).
Thursday, June 8, 2000 - Friday, June 9, 2000
PFS Program Opening Conference: Addressing Institutional Gaps in the Financial Sectors of the Baltic States, Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe
Budapest, Hungary
On June 8-9, 2000 the PFS Program held its Opening Conference: Addressing Institutional Gaps in the Financial Sectors of the Baltic States, Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe.
Speakers and participants represented a variety of disciplines and institutions from throughout the region, the European Union and the United States as well as international financial organizations. Conference panels discussed the past decade’s experience of financial sector reform and current issues affecting banking, capital markets, insurance and pension systems.
To download the conference agenda and the conference proceedings, please click on the respective link below:
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