1. A Survey of Voluntary Disclosure Practices in the Internet by Leading European Companies §Enrique Bonsón Ponte §bonson@uhu.es §Tomás Escobar Rodríguez §tescrod@dee.upo.es

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

3. Previous research (I) StudyScopeDate Web SitesFull Accounts Petravick & Gillet, 1996 US, Fortune 150199669%31% Louwers et al., 1996US, top 150 Fortune-500199665%23% Gray & Debreceny, 1997US, Fortune Industrial-50199698%36% Lymer, 1998UK, top 50199792%32% Lymer & Tallberg, 1997Finland, Helsinki S.E. 72199790%11% Flynn & Gowthorpe, 1997W, top 100 Fortune Global-500199789%39% Sánchez Barrios, 1999Spain, Ibex 35199763%20%

4. Previous research (II) Deller et al., 1998Germany, DAX 100199876%30% Deller et al., 1998UK, FTSE 100199885%43% Deller et al., 1998US, S&P 100199895%84% Craven & Marston, 1999UK, top 200199874%33% Taylor, 1998W, 100 international companies1998100%83% Molero et al., 1999Spain, Ibex 35199883%37% Molero et al., 1999Spain, Madrid S.E. 215199845%10% Heldin, 1999Sweden, Stockolm S.E., 60199898%83%

5. Previous research (III) Pirchegger et al., 1999Austria, Viena S.E., 32199888%84% Gowthorpe & Amat, 1999Spain, Madrid S.E., 379199819%5% Lymer et al., 1999W, 22 countries, 660 companies199986%20% Trites, 1999US-Can, NY-T-NASDAQ, 370199969%19% Bonsón et al., 2000EU-11, Eurostoxx 501999100%

6. 1996199719981999 2000 §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 Eurotop100 100% PRESENCE IN THE WEB

7. 98% 99% 92% 74% 76% 90% 83% 98% 63% 100% 45% 100% 1996199719981999 2000 §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.

8. §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% §E-mail to investor relations34% 40% 31% §Mailing list12% 6% 11% §FAQ31% 8% 7% Top 100 companies (1999) USA U.K Germany

10. §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)

11. §Previous research §Digital reporting evolution Index

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

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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

16. §Previous research §Digital reporting evolution §The survey Index

17. 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.

18. COMPANIES BY SECTOR (%)

19. COMPANIES BY COUNTRY (%)

20. INFORMATION TOPICS

22. AVERAGE SCORE BY SECTOR

23. 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)

24. AVERAGE SCORE BY COUNTRY

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

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