Finnish websites surpass European counterparts in sustainability

Summary of findings:

• Finnish companies best in Europe at providing sustainability information
• Still going (very) strong in Investor Relations and Corporate Governance
• Wärtsilä is this year's winner, followed by Kesko and Metso
• This year's best climber is Tokmanni Group

SEE ALL FINNISH RESULTS HERE

Providing Sustainability information: Finnish companies best in Europe

Providing information on companies’ sustainability work has become very important over the years. Comprend’ s surveys show that stakeholders demand transparent and clear content on the subject, and it is not only the capital market who wants information about a company's sustainability work. Jobseekers also look for information on companies’ sustainability initiatives when applying to a company. Compared to last year, Finnish companies have become visibly better at providing this type of information, receiving an average 46% of full score compared to last year’s 38 %. The raise also makes Finnish companies the best among the ranked European companies in this section.

Almost all ranked Finnish companies present a Code of Conduct (93 %) and a huge number also published a CSR report (89 %). Despite performing best in Europe, there is still room for improvement when it comes to presenting CSR data and targets, with only 4% of Finnish companies achieving full points in this section. This is noteworthy considering that the financial market wants hard facts and that this information is highly demanded among stakeholders. Presenting data is also a good way for companies to show its commitment to sustainability. One company that does present this data is Wärtsilä, which is also the company with the best score in the sustainability section in Webranking 2017-2018 for Finland.

Investor Relations and Governance: Still going (very) strong

Much like previous years, Finnish companies continue to exceed other ranked countries remarkably when it comes to providing content on Investor relations. One example is risk management, a criterion highly demanded by stakeholders, which 98% of Finnish companies provide. Only 40% of the 500 largest companies in Europe provide this. Similar to last year, Finnish companies tend to be missing content on financial goals with descriptions on how to reach them in their IR sections. Again, this is something that is considered important by the capital market according to Comprend's Capital Market Survey, which is the base for the criteria.

Despite a marginal decline in providing content on Governance compared to last year (from 80% to 77% of total score) Finnish companies retain their leading position in this section too. An impressive 80% of ranked Finnish companies achieve full scores by providing information on the share transactions of their board and management. Presenting the latest corporate governance report, which is an efficient way of demonstrating a company's transparency, is also a highlight. 95% of the ranked companies receive a full score in this criterion.

Among the Finnish companies, Wärtsilä performs best in providing content on both Investor Relations and Governance. Kesko comes in second in the Investor Relations section, and Valmet scores second in the Governance section.

The Finnish ranking list

In this year’s Webranking by Comprend, Wärtsilä secures the top position with an impressive score of 92.1, their highest score ever, and the second ever best in Finland.

"As a smart technology company Wärtsilä takes pride in effectively engaging with all of its stakeholders. We are very pleased that our website, which we tirelessly develop, is valued as a benchmark of the highest standards."
- says Johan Bäckman, manger of external online channels at Wärtsilä

Wärtsilä bypasses last year’s winner Kesko, who scores second with 89.9 points. Metso has managed to increase their score from 72.5 last year to 78.2 this year, which puts them at 3rd place. Last year's number 3, Fortum, obtains 4th place, followed by Valmet and Stora Enso.

This year's best climber among Finnish companies is Tokmanni Group, who have increased their score by 10.6 points from last year.

SEE THE FULL FINNISH RESULTS HERE

For questions regarding the results, please contact Helena Wennergren, Research Consultant, at helena.wennergren@comprend.com.