HONG KONG, Sept. 15 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- The 2010 ASR™ findings
are to be announced today at the CSR Asia Summit in Hong Kong. The
CSR Asia Summit is the flagship event from CSR Asia, which is the
most innovative and challenging conference on corporate social
responsibility (CSR) in the Asia-Pacific region. The Summit has
brought together over 350 international thought leaders to explore
key CSR issues and strategies, bringing new insights for
businesses, governments, non-profit organisations and other CSR
practitioners.
The 2010 ASR™ scores highlight the leadership of Korean
companies on ESG reporting, while mainland Chinese companies were
found to be the poorest disclosers. Across the twelve sectors
included in our analysis, the highest scoring sector is telecom and
the lowest is healthcare. However, the healthcare sector admittedly
includes a relatively small universe of companies that is heavily
weighted towards mainland China and India.
The ASR™ methodology is based on a set of 100 sustainability
indicators, split into four ASR™ categories -- General,
Environment, Social and Governance, which cover disclosure on the
main elements of ESG risk. All public companies should be
addressing each of these important factors through disclosure and
realistic target setting irrespective of their sector. In theory,
any company could aspire to and achieve a 100 percent rating on
ASR™ within a few years of monitoring and reporting on these
fundamental ESG issues.
The 2010 ASR™ universe comprises 542 companies and includes the
largest listed corporate entities based on free float market
capitalisation across ten countries and regions. All companies are
scored across the same ESG factors based on publicly available
information only. In order that the results are as unbiased as
possible, there is no engagement or questionnaire of the companies
in the methodology.
In general, companies in Asia scored better on Governance
compared to either Environment or Social categories, with some
level of disclosure even among the regional laggards. For much of
our universe, Governance was the only sustainability reporting of
any kind and mostly due to regulation or stock exchange listing
requirements. This highlights the vital role regulators and
exchanges play in setting minimum thresholds for reporting, and the
importance of continuously engaging them to help improve corporate
ESG reporting in Asia.
Around three quarters of our universe have some form of
sustainability disclosure. However, few companies in our universe
are willing to provide a direct named contact for ESG queries from
stakeholders. Normally, when a contact is given, it is often
someone in the PR or corporate communications office, revealing a
commonly held belief in Asia that sustainability reporting is more
of a marketing tool to prove a company's "green" credentials.
The ASR™ shows that the following companies are top and bottom
of the rating. South Korea was the top overall average performer as
companies listed in Korea showed more depth in the rating overall
as opposed to the situation in other countries or regions which had
only a few top performers. The vast difference in scoring between
the top and bottom companies demonstrates the huge disparity around
sustainability disclosure.
Company Exchange Position ASR™
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Taiwan 1 87%
United Microelectronics Corporation Taiwan 2 86%
China Light & Power Holdings Ltd Hong Kong 3 84%
City Developments Limited Singapore 4 84%
Wipro Ltd India 5 83%
Taiwan Cement Co Ltd Taiwan 538 3%
Indiabulls Real Estate Ltd India 539 3%
Cheng-Shin Rubber Ind. Co. Ltd Taiwan 540 3%
GS Holdings Corporation Korea 541 3%
PT Delta Dunia Makmur Tbk Indonesia 542 3%
The ASR™ country / region ranking is as follows:
Ranking Country AVERAGE ASR™
1 SOUTH KOREA 44%
2 INDIA 43%
3 MALAYSIA 42%
4 THAILAND 40%
5 SINGAPORE 39%
6 INDONESIA 38%
7 TAIWAN 34%
8 HONG KONG 33%
9 PHILIPPINES 29%
10 MAINLAND CHINA 20%
By country / region the companies at the top and the bottom of
the ASR™ are as follows:
Mainland China
Company Position Asian Sustainability Rating™
LENOVO GROUP LTD 12 77%
CHINA SHENHUA 40 68%
REN REN LE 536 4%
SHANGHAI BAILI 537 4%
Mainland China leads the ASR™ results in both the number of
companies reviewed (208) and market capitalization (US$ bn 1,951).
However, the widespread lack of disclosure, in Mandarin and
English, resulted in a last place ranking for mainland Chinese
companies in every ASR™ category except Governance (where Taiwan is
in 10th place).
Hong Kong
Company Position Asian Sustainability Rating™
CLP HOLDINGS LTD 3 84%
CATHAY PACIFIC 8 81%
JARDINE MATHESON 418 16%
HONG KONG LAND 461 12%
Scoring on ASR™ environmental indicators shows a wide disparity.
The top companies perform amongst the best in the region but
widespread and poor non-material reporting in this area plagued the
overall Hong Kong universe. This resulted in Hong Kong in 9th place
for the Environment rating with only mainland China performing
worse.
India
Company Position Asian Sustainability Rating™
WIPRO LTD 5 83%
DR REDDY'S LABS 7 83%
UNITECH LTD 435 14%
INDIABULLS REAL ESTATE 539 3%
Reporting in India is strong is every category except
Governance. In the General category India comes in first place,
with over the companies included delivering material sustainability
reports that are relevant to the company's business model.
Indonesia
Company Position Asian Sustainability Rating™
UNILEVER INDONESIA 9 79%
ASTRA INTERNATIONAL 42 68%
GUDANG GARAM 433 14%
DELTA DUNIA MAKMUR 542 3%
Even though Indonesia is rich in natural resources, there was an
absence of material reporting on environmental indicators in
Indonesia. Only one company provided detailed emissions
information. This lack of information was particularly prevalent
within the extractives sector.
Malaysia
Company Position Asian Sustainability Rating™
DIGI 11 78%
BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO MALAYSIA 17 76%
MAXIS BHD 300 24%
PPB GROUP BERHAD 310 23%
Malaysian companies scored well in the Social category, with
leading companies reporting on their stakeholder engagement with
employees, customers, suppliers and the communities in which they
operate. However, in all sectors in the Malaysian universe almost
all companies score below 25% for the environmental reporting.
Philippines
Company Position Asian Sustainability Rating™
AYALA LAND 15 78%
MANILA WATER 64 61%
SAN MIGUEL CORPORATION 474 11%
JOLLIBEE 502 9%
Outside of a few top-performing companies the Philippines
universe is characterized by widespread non-disclosure. Reflecting
on the deeply entrenched culture of corporate philanthropy many
companies see sustainability as the activities of the company
foundation rather than an embedded part of corporate practice.
Singapore
Company Position Asian Sustainability Rating™
CITY DEVELOPMENTS 4 84%
CAPITALAND LTD 37 69%
PARKWAY HLDGS 350 20%
SUNTEC REIT 437 14%
There is currently only limited disclosure in Singapore beyond
Governance issues. There is huge potential for change given the
recently announced policy and guidelines for sustainability
disclosure by the Stock Exchange.
South Korea
Company Position Asian Sustainability Rating™
SK TELECOM 24 73%
POSCO 26 72%
HYOSUNG CORPORATION 491 10%
GS HOLDINGS 541 3%
Korea demonstrates a strong level of disclosure against all
categories except Governance. Leading global brands are evidently
leading this trend. These highly visible global companies have
undertaken a range of initiatives in an effort to align themselves
with global trends on energy efficiency, climate change and
resource utilization which is clearly driving disclosure.
Taiwan
Company Position Asian Sustainability Rating™
TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY 1 87%
UNITED MICROELECTRONICS 2 86%
TAIWAN CEMENT 538 3%
CHENG SHIN RUBBER 540 3%
Taiwanese companies score at the two extremes of the ASR™. The
top scorers reflects the competitive requirements faced by their
globally renowned IT sector but sustainability management is still
far from the norm in Taiwan.
Thailand
Company Position Asian Sustainability Rating™
SIAM CEMENT PLC 19 74%
PTT PCL 32 70%
TMB BANK PLC 336 21%
CP THAILAND 520 8%
Disclosure promotion in Thailand has to date focused only on
governance. There is still largely weak performance in
environmental and social reporting. Not one Thai company had a
direct named contact for sustainability enquiries. No company in
the Thai universe sets targets for energy or water use or waste
production, a key component of any sustainability strategy.
The ASR™ is a proprietary ESG benchmarking methodology that was
developed in collaboration between Responsible Research and CSR
Asia. ASR™ examines publicly available information of all the
leading listed companies in the ten countries / regions of the MSCI
AC (All Country) Asia ex Japan and provides investors, companies
and other stakeholders with a view of strategic sustainability of
these companies.
The data in ASR™ 2010 can be used by responsible investors to
benchmark portfolios and add a sustainability dimension to
investment decision-making and engagement practices. Companies and
their stakeholders can also use the tool to monitor their progress
on sustainability and to review ESG management and disclosures from
business partners and competitors. Individual company or peer
analysis can be provided for companies wishing to know how their
peers are performing on sustainability disclosure. Investors, NGOs
and the media are also invited to access indicator data.
SOURCE CSR Asia