A Survey of Voluntary Disclosure Practices in the Internet by Leading European Companies §Enrique Bonsón Ponte §Tomás Escobar Rodríguez

§Previous research §Digital reporting evolution §The survey §Conclusions Index

Previous research (I) StudyScopeDate Web SitesFull Accounts Petravick & Gillet, 1996 US, Fortune %31% Louwers et al., 1996US, top 150 Fortune %23% Gray & Debreceny, 1997US, Fortune Industrial %36% Lymer, 1998UK, top %32% Lymer & Tallberg, 1997Finland, Helsinki S.E %11% Flynn & Gowthorpe, 1997W, top 100 Fortune Global %39% Sánchez Barrios, 1999Spain, Ibex %20%

Previous research (II) Deller et al., 1998Germany, DAX %30% Deller et al., 1998UK, FTSE %43% Deller et al., 1998US, S&P %84% Craven & Marston, 1999UK, top %33% Taylor, 1998W, 100 international companies %83% Molero et al., 1999Spain, Ibex %37% Molero et al., 1999Spain, Madrid S.E %10% Heldin, 1999Sweden, Stockolm S.E., %83%

Previous research (III) Pirchegger et al., 1999Austria, Viena S.E., %84% Gowthorpe & Amat, 1999Spain, Madrid S.E., %5% Lymer et al., 1999W, 22 countries, 660 companies199986%20% Trites, 1999US-Can, NY-T-NASDAQ, %19% Bonsón et al., 2000EU-11, Eurostoxx %

§USA l Fortune5098% l Fortune100 99% §EUROPE l U.K.92% l U.K.(206 companies)74% l Germany (DAX100)76% l Finland (72 companies) 90% l Sweden (SSE) 98% l Spain (IBEX35)63%83% 100% l Spain (215 companies) 45% l Eurostoxx50100% l Eurotop % PRESENCE IN THE WEB

98% 99% 92% 74% 76% 90% 83% 98% 63% 100% 45% 100% §USA l Fortune5036% l Fortune100 80% §EUROPE l U.K.(FTSE50)32% l U.K.(206 companies)33% l Germany (DAX100)30% l Finland (72 comp.)11% l Sweden (SSE) 83% l Spain (IBEX35)20%37% 94% l Spain (215 comp.) 9% l Eurostoxx50100% l Eurotop100 99% ANNUAL REP.

§Balance sheet95% 74% 65% §Income statement95% 75% 63% §Notes92% 60% 42% §Cash flow statement92% 64% 30% §Interim reports97% 82% 73% §Financial data time series 95% 28% 21% §Press releases88% 90% 86% §Investor financial calendar 9% 18% 39% §Current share price77% 29% 46% § to investor relations34% 40% 31% §Mailing list12% 6% 11% §FAQ31% 8% 7% Top 100 companies (1999) USA U.K Germany

§Annual report 100% 99% §Interim report 90%64% §Audit report 66% 53% §Five years summary 62%47% §Financial Ratios 38% 24% §IASC standards 8% 5% §Format l PDF 88%86% l HTML 48% 49% l Excel 12% l XBRL 0% 0% §Strategy80%54% §Environmental reporting40%34% §Shareholders’ structure 46% 31% §Shareholders’ news84% 83% §Shareholders’ meetings 54%34% §Press releases94% §Mailing lists42%28% Eurostoxx50 (10/99)Eurotop100 (5/00)

§Previous research §Digital reporting evolution Index

§First stage: colonization of the new media, web presence §Second stage: annual report dissemination §Third stage: voluntary disclosure Digital reporting evolution

Second stage: annual report dissemination §Companies begin to make financial information available on the Internet. Electronic versions of printed annual reports (PDF). §Financial information access is improved (HTML) §Users are allowed to download information in spreadsheet files (EXCEL). §XBRL, the next step

Third stage: voluntary disclosure §Companies are interested in attracting new investors world wide §This is the reason why: §Financial information provided is broadened §Companies provide non-financial information

ANNUAL REPORT INTERIM REPORTS FIVE YEARS SUMMARY FINANCIAL RATIOS IASC STANDARDS STRATEGY ENVIRONMENTAL REPORTING SHAREHOLDERS’ STRUCTURE SHAREHOLDERS’ NEWS SHAREHOLDERS’ MEETINGS PRESS RELEASES MAILING LISTS FORDWARD LOOKING INFORMATION HIGHER QUANTITY/QUALITY OF ACCOUNTING INFORMATION STOCK QUOTES INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL

§Previous research §Digital reporting evolution §The survey Index

Voluntary disclosure = f ( S, Se, C ) Size Sector Country §Sample: Eurotop100 (April 2001) §Variables: Country, Sector, Weight, Web site, Assets, Sales, BS and IS, Auditors’ report, Iterim report, Previous years summary, Financial ratios, Forward-looking information, IASC standards, Strategy, Environmental information, Sh’ structure, Sh’ news, Sh´ meetings, Intel. Capital, Directors, Employees, W.W. Operat., Customers, Suppliers, Press releases, Mailing list.

COMPANIES BY SECTOR (%)

COMPANIES BY COUNTRY (%)

INFORMATION TOPICS

AVERAGE SCORE BY SECTOR

AVERAGE SCORE BY COMPANY SIZE Size 1: 0,08 (Min)  weight < 0,5786 (Av - Sd/2) Size 2: 0,5786 (Av - Sd/2)  weight < 0,9757 (Av) Size 3: 0,9757 (Av)  weight < 1,3728 (Av + Sd/2) Size 4: 1,3728 (Av + Sd/2)  weight  4,30 (Max)

AVERAGE SCORE BY COUNTRY

§Previous research §Digital reporting evolution §The survey §Conclusions Index

§Size, sector and country (sample) §Innovative forms of disclosure (slides, video, audio) §Continuous reporting ?? §Corporate dialogue?? Conclusions