Websites lack debt information

Dec 16, 2009

Italians dominate annual ranking of European websites

Almost three fifths of European company websites are missing debt and financing information required by the investment community, according to a new study.

Some 58 percent of issuers have little or no information in this area, while 53 percent do not publish their credit ratings, according to the annual website ranking conducted by Hallvarsson & Halvarsson (H&H), the financial communications firm. Of the 500 largest companies in Europe that were surveyed, only 3 percent score full marks for their debt and financing information section.

H&H picks out ThyssenKrupp, the German technology company, as an example of best practice. ThyssenKrupp ‘has a separate section called ‘Bonds/credit relations’ filled to the top with information. It also displays its whole credit relations team with five personal contacts; a rare and professional approach,’ writes H&H in its study.

The lack of information on debt is surprising given the intense focus on this area by investors and analysts over the last two years, following the banking crisis and subsequent credit squeeze. ‘A company’s credit rating is a very easy thing to put online, but a little over half of companies do not do it – that’s strange,’ says Marcus Eriksson, consultant at H&H. ‘We are definitely seeing a gap here between supply and demand on finance-related criteria.’

The survey was conducted as part of H&H’s ninth annual website ranking. The project marks websites on a number of different areas – including technology, press section, corporate governance information, CSR, contacts and calendar – to produce the H&H Webranking Europe 500. This year, the top three websites all come from Italian companies. They are Eni (which wins for the second year in a row), UniCredit Group and Telecom Italia.

The highest-ranked UK company, British American Tobacco, comes a lowly 31st overall. But UK companies shine when judged on the CSR aspects of their websites. ‘Our analysis is that the UK dominates the CSR field due to having its own sustainability index, the FTSE 4 Good, and some large oil and tobacco companies that are strong contenders and an inspiration for others,’ says Eriksson.

The top three firms from the UK are British American Tobacco, Aviva and Cadbury.

By Tim Human