Sustainability rises to the top of Italian companies listed on the stock exchange. Word of Consob
During 2023, among the 202 Italian companies with ordinary shares listed on EXM, 144 published a non-financial statement and 80% of these provided information on their sustainability plans. 55 also used metrics and quantitative indicators to define objectives and 58 reported information on their achievement. The Teleborsa article
Sustainability "rises to the top levels of Italian companies listed on the stock exchange" and ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) issues increasingly become a matter dealt with at top management level with the direct involvement of the boards of directors. CONSOB states this in the latest Report on non-financial reporting.
Among the main findings: the percentage of companies that involve external stakeholders in updating the materiality analysis has increased over time, revealing a greater interest in the point of view external to the company; a positive trend is also found with reference to the involvement of the board following the definition of the material topics, highlighting a growing attention of the directors on sustainability issues; The number of issuers that link the variable remuneration of CEOs to sustainability objectives also continues to increase.
The data examined concerns Italian companies with ordinary shares listed on the main Italian regulated market organized and managed by Borsa Italiana (Euronext Milan – EXM) as of 31 December 2022 (equal to 202 companies).
Non-financial reporting
During 2023, among the 202 Italian companies with ordinary shares listed on EXM, 144 (representing 71.3% of the total, 96.7% in terms of capitalisation) published a non-financial declaration (DNF) pursuant to the Legislative Decree .lgs. 254/2016, because they are subject to current legislation (140 issuers) or on a voluntary basis (four issuers). In the majority of cases (111, equal to 77%) the NFS was presented as a separate document from the management report and, for the purposes of preparing the document, 49 companies (equal to 34%) adopted procedures or guidelines defined internally
The materiality analysis was updated in the reporting year in 98.6% of cases. As part of the update process, the percentage of companies that involved internal structures or bodies decreased compared to the previous year (equal to 82.4% compared to 86.5% in the previous survey) and, among these, top managers (56.3% compared to 62.4%) in identifying material topics. Furthermore, there is a greater involvement of external stakeholders, whose point of view was taken into consideration for the identification of material topics by 69.7% of the issuers who updated the analysis (65.8% in the previous survey ). In all cases in which a participation was detected, the percentage (above 90% in 2023) of the
companies that reported information on the methods of involvement.
There was also an increase compared to the previous year in the number of companies that declared they had involved the board of directors following the process of defining the material topics: this occurred in 66.7% of cases, the highest percentage since 2019 (first year of survey).
In the majority of cases (115, approximately 80%) the companies provided information on their sustainability objectives or plans in the NFS. Among these, 55 used metrics and quantitative indicators to define the objectives and 58 reported information on their achievement. Furthermore, in 115 cases again, the companies reported references to at least one of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in relation to their own sustainability objectives or by connecting them to the material topics identified. In 2023, Strategic Plan abstracts were published by 67 companies. Of these, 34 mentioned long-term sustainability considerations, 26 linked their strategy to the SDGs, while 15 fully integrated issues that generate value in the short and long term into the communication of their plan, describing the connections between issues financial and non-financial.
Board involvement
The Board Involvement Section highlights that the indicators regarding the integration of ESG factors in the board's decision-making process have all improved compared to 2022, with the sole exception of the data relating to induction programs, which are essentially stable. During 2023, among the 144 companies that drafted the NFS, 45 issuers renewed their administrative body: in 29 cases these issuers published guidelines for the appointment of the new board of directors, mentioning in 28 cases also the non-specific issues financial. It is therefore recorded that 62% of the companies that renewed the board took non-financial issues into consideration, an increase compared to the 43% recorded in 2022.
In the board's self-assessment, ESG factors were mentioned in 54 cases (compared to 45 cases in 2022), while 56 (or 38.9% of the total) issuers included them in member induction programs of the council (58 in 2022, corresponding to 39.2%).
Remuneration policies and sustainability
There were 137 issuers that integrated non-financial factors into the compensation of CEOs, an increase compared to 2022, when there were 127 companies that linked them to ESG parameters. In particular, the reference to these parameters concerns short-term remuneration in 118 cases and the long-term component in 88 cases.
The share of short-term variable remuneration linked to ESG factors is equal to 18.5% on average, slightly down compared to 2022, when it was around 21%, while that relating to long-term remuneration is equal to 19% on average. %, in line with 2022 and slightly growing compared to previous years.
The new legislation
The framework was released a few months after the application of the new sector regulations. Starting from 2025, as a result of the transposition of European legislation (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive), sustainability issues will, in fact, have to be included in a section of the management report that accompanies the financial statements.
In this regard, some companies have already undertaken activities aimed at adapting corporate processes to the rules that will govern sustainability reporting, which must be published by companies in 2025 with reference to the 2024 financial year.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/esg/la-sostenibilita-sale-ai-piani-alti-delle-societa-italiane-quotate-in-borsa-parola-di-consob/ on Sat, 05 Oct 2024 05:05:13 +0000.