ICSA spotlights best practice in annual reporting
Published on 18th May 2015
ICSA has published guidance on good practice in annual reporting, and has identified some of the best exponents amongst the FTSE 100, FTSE 250 and AIM under its ICSA Excellence in Governance Awards initiative. The guidance emphasises the opportunities presented by annual reporting, rather than focusing on the mandatory nature of much of the required disclosure – in their words an “annual report can generate more value if viewed as a communications opportunity rather than a compliance obligation.”
In its report, ICSA highlights a number of the characteristics of the best annual reporting, including:
- an understanding of the links between governance, shareholder value creation, and the avoidance of value destruction;
- responding to the opportunities created by reporting requirements rather than seeing them as obligations;
- innovative and creative forms of disclosure, which move away from ‘boilerplate’ reporting that repeat the language of the UK Corporate Governance Code and explain how the board and company is run; and
- a governance report that demonstrates clear ownership by the chairman and a real desire to use governance to enhance the business rather than as a ‘box-ticking’ exercise.
The awards for the best overall annual report in the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 went to GlaxoSmithKline and Lonmin, respectively. VITEC Group took the award for the best annual report amongst small cap/AIM companies.
Source: ICSA, Guidance note: Good practice for annual reports
