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:
Friday, March 7, 2008
Workshop – How to Write A Case Study
Zagreb, Croatia
On Friday, March 7, 2008 the Case Study Writing Project, e-STUDENT, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Zagreb, and the PFS Program held a Workshop entitled, “How to Write a Case Study.”
This was the third time that Geoffrey Mazullo, Director, PFS Program was invited to teach the introductory Workshop launching the annual Case Study Writing Project at the Faculty of Economics and Business.
40 students from the Case Study Writing Project, e-STUDENT, participated in the Workshop. A representative of the Securities Commission of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, two representatives of the Securities Commission of Republika Srpska and a representative of the Macedonian Stock Exchange also participated.
This event is part of an ongoing PFS Program regional initiative to introduce students and faculty as well as recent gradates of South East European (SEE) educational institutions to a wide range of analytical and writing skills necessary to writing a high-quality, professional case study.
During the course of the Workshop, students were presented a wide range of case studies, ranging from brief “cases in point” to full-blown case studies. The Workshop explained in practical terms how a case study should present in-depth material; cite data and sources; note comparisons and/or contrasts; pose a range of questions; and demonstrate numerous issues. Furthermore, the Workshop demonstrated that a successful case study should explain the relationship between the specific “case” (company, example or situation) and general benchmarks, best practice, international standards, etc. Even when a case is unique and does not enable comparisons, this should be explained.
At the outset of the Workshop, the PFS Program presented the rationale behind launching its ongoing semi-annual regional surveys: Investor Relations Online and Surveys of Reporting on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by the Largest Listed Companies in 11 Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. Thereafter, students discussed the methodology for the surveys and a wealth of data from the surveys as well as other sources. At the end of Session 1, the PFS Program described the use of the surveys and their impact.
During Sessions 2 and 3, students analyzed a number of case studies regarding particular issues in corporate governance and/or CSR that the PFS Program uses in its training programs. The case studies discussed concern companies listed and/or operating in Germany, the Netherlands/the United Kingdom, Sweden and the United States.
At the end of Session 3, the PFS Program explained step by step the mechanics of writing a case study about an assigned topic. Each student received a checklist of case study evaluation criteria. The checklist was analyzed in detail, in order to prepare students for the mechanics of the case study writing process.
Through the Workshop, students were introduced to valuable case study writing skills and gained insights into the current status of corporate reporting in Croatia as well as other CEE and SEE countries. They will apply this knowledge in writing case studies about Croatian companies. Also, students who participated in the Workshop may apply for a one-month unpaid internship with the PFS Program in summer 2008. PFS Program interns work on the above-mentioned PFS Program regional surveys.
To download the Workshop agenda and presentations, 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:
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
Seminar to Present the Croatian Corporate Governance Code
Zagreb, Croatia
On Wednesday, April 4, 2007 the Croatian Financial Services Supervisory Agency (HANFA), the Zagreb Stock Exchange and the PFS Program organized a Seminar to present the Croatian Corporate Governance Code.
109 persons, representing a large number of Croatian listed companies as well as Croatian academic institutions, investment companies and governmental agencies participated in the seminar. Also, a representative of the University of Banja Luka and a representative of the Banja Luka Stock Exchange participated.
During the first session, representatives of the Zagreb Stock Exchange presented the Croatian Corporate Governance Code. During the second session, colleagues from the German Shareholders’ Association DSW, Germany; Warsaw Stock Exchange, Poland; and a lawyer from Slovenia shared those countries’ experiences with implementing a corporate governance code. During the third session, a number of Croatian perspectives were presented.
To download the Seminar agenda, presentations and the Croatian Corporate Governance Code, please click on the links below. Please note that some of the presentations are only in Croatian. The presentations may also be found on the Code of Corporate Governance page of the Zagreb Stock Exchange website.
 | Agenda - Corporate Governance Seminar - April 4, 2007.pdf - 109 KB |
| Presentation - Zagreb Stock Exchange - Melita Marceta - April 4, 2007.pdf - 687 KB |
| Presentation - Zagreb Stock Exchange - Andrej Galogaza - April 4, 2007.pdf - 121 KB |
| Presentation - DSW - Germany - April 4, 2007.pdf - 46 KB |
| Presentation - Warsaw Stock Exchange - Poland - April 4, 2007.pdf - 98 KB |
| Presentation - Nina Cankar - Slovenia - April 4, 2007.pdf - 36 KB |
| Presentation - Ericsson Nikola Tesla - April 4, 2007.pdf - 1,319 KB |
| Presentation - Leslie Sulenta- ZSEM - April 4, 2007.pdf - 756 KB |
| Croatian Corporate Governance Code - April 2007.pdf - 9,804 KB |
| List of Participants - Corporate Governance Seminar - April 4, 2007 - Zagreb, Croatia.pdf - 54 KB |
Monday, March 12, 2007
Third Annual Croatian Surveys: Investor Relations Online of Leading Croatian Companies - 2006 and Survey of Reporting on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by Leading Croatian Companies - 2006
Zagreb, Croatia
On Monday, March 12, 2007 the Zagreb School of Economics and Management published the third annual edition of two research surveys: Investor Relations Online of Leading Croatian Companies - 2006; and Survey of Reporting on Corporate Social Responsibility (SR) by Leading Croatian Companies - 2006.
The surveys were co-financed by a PFS Program Grant and are part of a wider regional initiative implemented by the PFS Program. Each survey was conducted employing the same methodology used in the two eponymous PFS Program regional surveys conducted semi-annually since 2001 and in country surveys conducted by research institutes in Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland in 2001-2004. In 2007, surveys will be conducted for the first time in Bulgaria.
The third annual edition of Investor Relations Online was conducted in winter 2006/2007. It investigates Croatian- and English-language information available on the websites of 43 leading Croatian companies.
The second annual edition of the Survey of Reporting on CSR by Leading Croatian Companies was also conducted in winter 2006/2007. It investigates Croatian-language information available in the 2004 annual reports, prospectuses and websites of 43 leading Croatian companies.
The sample of 43 leading Croatian public or “public nature” companies represents 82% of overall market capitalization and 66% of overall turnover on the Croatian stock market.
The main conclusions of Investor Relations Online - 2006 are:
• The trend is positive, for a third year in a row.
• A small number of companies stand out: These companies exemplify best practice.
• Improvement is also visible in the middle of the peer group. An increasing number of companies have entered the middle ground, representing a discernible improvement over the previous two annual surveys.
• 74% of companies surveyed provide a list of management board members online. More than half of the companies surveyed provide annual financial statements online.
• Compared with peers in other Central and Eastern European (CEE) companies, Croatian companies lag behind. However, the gap is diminishing.
The main conclusions of Reporting on CSR – 2006 are:
• On average, companies provide most information in the area of social policy, as opposed to environmental policy or corporate governance.
• Regarding corporate governance, most companies still report only the bare essentials. However, more companies provide information on management and board members than previously.
• Environmental policy reporting improved slightly from a low base.
• In CSR reporting, a few top companies shine above the others. A handful of Croatian companies publish stand-alone reports on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues. More companies reference Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards.
• In comparison with peers in other CEE countries, again, Croatian companies lag behind. However, in this field also, the gap is diminishing.
To download the database and English-language publication regarding each of the surveys, please click on the links below:
Thursday, March 8, 2007
Workshop – How to Write A Case Study
Zagreb, Croatia
On Thursday, March 8, 2007 the Case Study Writing Project, e-STUDENT, Graduate School of Economics and Business, University of Zagreb and the PFS Program held a Workshop entitled, “How to Write a Case Study.”
47 students from the Case Study Writing Project and Irena Cibaric, Leader of the Case Study Writing Project, e-STUDENT, Faculty of Economics and Business Zagreb University participated in the Workshop. Plamena Spassova, Economic Policy Institute (EPI), Sofia, Bulgaria also participated in the Workshop.
This event is part of an ongoing PFS Program regional initiative to introduce students and faculty from South East European (SEE) educational institutions to a wide range of analytical and writing skills necessary to writing a high-quality, professional case study.
During the course of the Workshop, students were presented a wide range of case studies, ranging from brief “cases in point” to full-blown case studies. The Workshop explained in practical terms how a case study should present in-depth material; note comparisons; pose a range of questions; and demonstrate numerous issues. It was also explained that successful in-depth cases also discuss whether the specific situation leads to extrapolation from the specific to the general or whether the general framework leads to identification of a specific particular example. In other words, a case study should explain the relationship of the particular situation to a wider framework such as benchmarks, best practice, international standards, etc.
At the outset of the Workshop, the PFS Program presented the rationale behind launching its surveys: Investor Relations Online and Surveys of Reporting on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by the Largest Listed Companies in 11 Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. Thereafter, students discussed the methodology for the surveys and a wealth of data from the surveys as well as other sources. At the end of Session 1, the PFS Program described the use of the surveys and their impact.
During Sessions 2, 3 and 4 students analyzed a number of case studies regarding particular issues in corporate governance and/or CSR that the PFS Program uses in its training programs. The case studies discussed concern companies listed and/or operating in Germany, the Netherlands/the United Kingdom, Poland, Sweden and the United States.
During Session 5, the PFS Program presented step by step the mechanics of writing a case study about an assigned topic.
Through the Workshop, students were introduced to valuable case study writing skills and gained insights into the current status of corporate reporting in Croatia as well as other CEE and SEE countries. They will apply this knowledge in writing case studies about Croatian companies. Also, students who participated in the Workshop may apply for a one-month unpaid internship with the PFS Program in summer 2007. PFS Program interns work on the above-mentioned PFS Program surveys.
To download the Workshop agenda, presentations and list of participants, please click on the links below:
| Agenda - Case Study Writing Workshop - Case Study Writing Project - March 8, 2007.pdf - 33 KB |
| Session 1 - PFS Program Surveys - March 8, 2007.pdf - 412 KB |
| Session 2 - Cases in Point - March 8, 2007.pdf - 36 KB |
| Session 3 - Case in Point - March 8, 2007.pdf - 40 KB |
| Session 4 - Case Study - Issue-based Case Study - March 8, 2007.pdf - 516 KB |
| Session 5 - How to Write a Case Study - March 8, 2007.pdf - 970 KB |
| Geoffrey Mazullo - Brief Bio - March 2007.pdf - 16 KB |
| List of Participants - Case Study Writing Workshop - Zagreb, Croatia - March 8, 2007.pdf - 64 KB |
| Workshop Materials - Case Study Writing Workshop - March 8, 2007.pdf - 2,008 KB |
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
Presentation of Third Annual Croatian Surveys: Investor Relations Online of Leading Croatian Companies – 2006 and Survey of Reporting on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by Leading Croatian Companies - 2006
Zagreb, Croatia
On Wednesday, March 7, 2007 the Zagreb School of Economics and Management (ZSEM) organized a press conference to present the third annual editions of two research surveys: Investor Relations Online of Leading Croatian Companies - 2006; and Survey of Reporting on Corporate Social Responsibility (SR) by Leading Croatian Companies - 2006. The surveys were co-financed by a PFS Program Grant and conducted employing the same methodology used in the PFS Program regional surveys (ongoing since 2001) and country surveys conducted in Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland (2001 – 2004). In 2007, surveys will be conducted for the first time in Bulgaria. Please note that the survey publications may be found under an entry dated March 12, 2007 on the Capital Markets Research page of the PFS Program website and ZSEM’s website.
59 persons attended the conference. The breakdown was as follows: the Deputy Director of Economic Policy Institute, Sofia, Bulgaria; 57 persons representing Croatian business associations, consulting firms, educational institutions, financial institutions, listed companies, media, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and research institutions; and a representative of Responsible Business Initiative, Serbia.
To download the conference agenda, presentations and the list of partisipants 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, February 22, 2007
PFS Program Grant to Zagreb School of Economics & Management (ZSEM)
Zagreb, Croatia
On Thursday, February 22, 2007 the PFS Program awarded a PFS Program Grant to Zagreb School of Economics & Management (ZSEM) to conduct third annual editions of two surveys: “Online Investor Relations: Survey of Websites of Leading Croatian Companies - 2006” and “Survey of Reporting on Corporate Social Responsibility by Leading Croatian Companies - 2006.”
The PFS Program conducts in-house two regional surveys of the 10 largest listed companies (by market capitalization) in 11 CEE countries. The inaugural edition of Investor Relations Online was published on August 1, 2001. Since then it is conducted semi-annually: it is published in early March and early September each year. The inaugural edition of Reporting on CSR was published on September 4, 2003. Since then it is conducted semi-annually: it is published in early May and early October each year.
The above-mentioned regional surveys analyze disclosure practices of CEE blue chip companies. In order to better understand the disclosure practices of a wider range of CEE listed companies, the PFS Program provides grants to local research institutes in CEE and SEE to co-finance surveys of a wider universe of companies in the respective country. To date, the PFS Program has co-financed country surveys in Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland. In 2007, a first set of Bulgarian surveys will be conducted by Economics Policy Institute (EPI), Sofia, Bulgaria.
The Croatian surveys which ZSEM conducted in 2005 and 2006 were widely covered by the financial media in Croatia and several on-line publications. The 2007 surveys will be completed in February and presented at a conference at ZSEM in early March 2007. The surveys will be published on the websites of ZSEM and the PFS Program in mid-March 2007.
Saturday, December 16, 2006
Regional Workshop – How to Write A Case Study
Zagreb, Croatia
On Saturday, December 16, 2006 Business College VERN’ and the Partners for Financial Stability (PFS) Program held a Workshop entitled, “How to Write a Case Study.” 18 VERN’ faculty members and representatives of two Croatian NGOs participated in the Workshop that took place at VERN’. Unfortunately, representatives of educational institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Poland, Serbia, Slovenia and the United States who were invited to participate in the Regional Workshop were unable to do so for a variety of reasons.
The purpose of the Workshop was to present faculty a wide range of analytical, conceptual, presentation, research and writing skills necessary to write a high-quality, professional case study to be used in teaching university-level students. During the course of the Workshop, participants were presented a wide range of case studies, ranging from brief “cases in point” to full-blown case studies. The Workshop explained in practical terms how a case study should present in-depth material; note comparisons; pose a range of questions; and demonstrate numerous issues. It was also explained that successful in-depth cases also discuss whether the specific situation leads to extrapolation from the specific to the general or whether the general framework leads to identification of a specific particular example. In other words, a case study should explain the relationship of the particular situation to a wider framework such as benchmarks, best practice, international standards, etc.
At the outset of the Workshop, the PFS Program presented the rationale behind launching its surveys: Investor Relations Online and Surveys of Reporting on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by the Largest Listed Companies in 11 Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. Thereafter, participants discussed the methodology for the surveys and a wealth of data from the surveys as well as other sources. At the end of Session 1, the PFS Program described the use of the surveys and their impact.
During Sessions 2, 3 and 4 participants analyzed a number of case studies regarding particular issues in corporate governance and/or CSR that the PFS Program uses in its training programs. The case studies discussed concern companies listed and/or operating in Germany, the Netherlands/the United Kingdom, Poland, Sweden and the United States.
During Session 5, the PFS Program presented step by step the mechanics of writing a case study about an assigned topic.
Each of the Workshop participants was instructed to write two case studies by March 15, 2007: one short case study on the topic assigned to all Workshop participants; and one short case study on a Croatian company or business issue of each participant’s choice.
Assigned moderators will read the case studies during the second half of April 2007. The group will meet again in April 2007 to present, analyze and critique the two sets of case studies.
Through the Workshop, the participants were introduced to valuable case study writing skills that they can immediate apply in practice at VERN’. As a side benefit, they gained insights into the current status of corporate reporting in Croatia as well as other CEE and South East European (SEE) countries.
To download the Workshop agenda, complete Workshop materials, individual presentations, speaker biographies and list of participants, please click on the links below:
| Agenda - Case Study Workshop - VERN - December 16, 2006.pdf - 45 KB |
| Workshop Manual - December 16, 2006.pdf - 1,378 KB |
| Session 1 - PFS Program Surveys - December 16, 2006.pdf - 1,252 KB |
| Session 2 - Cases in Point - December 16, 2006.pdf - 173 KB |
| Session 3 - Case in Point - December 16, 2006.pdf - 107 KB |
| Session 4 - Case Study - Labor Relations - Poland - December 16, 2006.pdf - 183 KB |
| Session 5 - How to Write a Case Study - December 16, 2006.pdf - 211 KB |
| Geoffrey Mazullo - Brief Bio - December 2006.pdf - 16 KB |
| Agnieszka Cenzartowicz - Brief Bio - December 2006.pdf - 11 KB |
| List of Participants - December 16, 2006.pdf - 76 KB |
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:
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 16, 2006
Conference: Best Practices in Good Governance: Experiences from the Public, Non-Profit and Private Sectors
Zagreb, Croatia
On Thursday, March 16, 2006 the Croatian consulting firm MAP Savjetovanja (MAP Consulting), in cooperation with the Croatian Chamber of Commerce and business.hr organized a multi-sectoral conference entitled, “Best Practices in Good Governance: Experiences from the Public, Non-Profit and Private Sectors.” The conference was supported financially by the Charles S. Mott Foundation and World Learning / USAID.
More than 95 persons from a wide range of Croatian institutions, representing the non-profit, private and public sectors, as well as institutions from neighboring countries, participated in the conference, held at the Croatian Chamber of Commerce.
Geoffrey Mazullo, Director, PFS Program, presented data from five years of PFS Program regional surveys: Investor Relations Online and Survey of Reporting on Corporate Social Responsibility CSR) by the Largest Listed Companies in Central and Eastern Europe. Two representatives of the Zagreb School of Economics and Management presented the 2004 and 2005 versions of two Croatian surveys they conducted on the same subjects.
To download the conference agenda, please click on this hyperlink: Agenda - Conference: Best Practices in Good Governance: Experiences from the Public, Non-Profit and Private Sectors – March 16, 2006.
A special edition of business.hr reported on the event. To read the special edition (in Croatian) – please click on the link below:
Thursday, March 9, 2006
Second Annual Croatian Surveys: Investor Relations Online of Leading Croatian Companies - 2005 and Survey of Reporting on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by Leading Croatian Companies - 2005
Zagreb, Croatia
On Thursday, March 9, 2006 the Zagreb School of Economics and Management published the second annual edition of two research surveys: Investor Relations Online of Leading Croatian Companies - 2005; and Survey of Reporting on Corporate Social Responsibility (SR) by Leading Croatian Companies - 2005.
The surveys were co-financed by a PFS Program Grant and are part of a wider regional initiative organized by the PFS Program. Each survey was conducted employing the same methodology used in the PFS Program regional surveys conducted semi-annually since 2001 and in country surveys conducted in Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland in 2001-2004.
The second annual edition of Investor Relations Online was conducted in autumn 2005. It investigates Croatian- and English-language information available on the websites of 48 leading Croatian companies.
The second annual edition of the Survey of Reporting on CSR by Leading Croatian Companies was also conducted in autumn 2005. It investigates Croatian-language information available in the 2004 annual reports, prospectuses and websites of 48 leading Croatian companies.
The companies included in the 2005 surveys account for 81% of the total market capitalization and 66% of the total turnover on the two Croatian stock exchanges, Varazdin Stock Exchange and Zagreb Stock Exchange.
The main conclusions of Investor Relations Online - 2005 are:
• The trend is positive: Overall, companies are making better use of their websites as an investor relations tool.
• A small number of companies stand out: These top companies exemplify good practices.
• There is still plenty of room for improvement: About half of the companies still do not provide the basic information which potential investors need.
• Compared with peers in other Central and Eastern European (CEE) companies, Croatian companies still lag.
The main conclusions of Reporting on CSR – 2005 are:
• On average, companies provide most information in the area of social policy, as opposed to environmental policy or corporate governance.
• Regarding corporate governance, most companies still report only the bare essentials.
• Environmental policy reporting improved slightly from a low base.
• In CSR reporting, a few top companies shine above the others.
• In comparison with peers in other CEE countries, again, Croatia still lags.
Survey findings include the following:
• A high percentage (92%) of companies has a local-language website. 83% of the firms have websites in English.
• Fifty-six percent of companies provide a list of the names of their management, up from 53% last year.
• The number of companies providing background information on management increased from 9% last year to 21% this year. This is a significant improvement.
• Only 33% of companies provided the names of their supervisory board members and only 7% disclosed any type of additional information on them.
• Only 42% of the companies provided their annual financial reports on their websites. However, this represents a slight increase from 40% last year.
• In CSR reporting, 38% of companies disclose their corporate sponsorships and donations whereas 13% of companies disclose the level of their energy and water use.
To download the surveys, in Croatian and in English, and three English-language publications of the survey results, please click on the links below:
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