CSR reports follow the online trend

There is a downhill trend in the number of CSR reports published by FTSE 100 companies according to new research conducted by corporate reporting consultancy Black Sun in the UK. Evidently 2005 was the peak year with 78 companies producing separate CSR reports. Numbers then fell to 65 in 2006 and then 57 in 2007.

“One obvious reason is that companies are cutting back on paper-based reports for cost and environmental reasons and shifting online, consistent with trends experienced in the USA, UK, Australia and New Zealand”, said Tony Heywood of Sydney-based communications company Heywood Innovation. “Stakeholders can now access the information more quickly and more selectively”.

Reporting of CSR issues inside annual reports however is on the increase. Black Sun reports that in 2007, 87 percent of companies discussed CSR in a dedicated section in their reports.

“Now that 80-90% of shareholders in countries like Australia are accepting their annual report information online, it makes sense that CSR information follows suit, either within the online annual report or in a dedicated online CSR document” said Heywood.

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