By leahschothorst
This year’s Webranking by Comprend shows that Finland is by far the best performing country in addressing digital communication challenges. Finnish corporations received the highest average score among all counterparts across Europe. In particular, Finnish companies excel in the investor-related sections – which contributes to the …
This year’s Webranking by Comprend shows that Finland is by far the best performing country in addressing digital communication challenges. Finnish corporations received the highest average score among all counterparts across Europe. In particular, Finnish companies excel in the investor-related sections – which contributes to the country’s high score.
Webranking by Comprend assessed 803 corporate websites from 36 countries this year, including 50 listed Finnish companies in 18 different sectors. The companies were ranked on the basis of 100 criteria that summarises the expectations of business journalists, analysts, investors and jobseekers. Webranking 2015-2016 found that Finnish corporate websites are at the forefront of delivering quality and depth of content required by analysts and investors.
Share information: strong performance
On share information, Finland scored an average of 73.9% compared with the FT Europe 500 companies which average only 42.0% of the total score. Finnish websites meet stakeholder needs exceptionally well by providing share information on dividend policy and history, analyst coverage and major shareholders. All websites surveyed provide updated information on major stakeholders, an item demanded by 88% of stakeholders.
Investor-related areas
Comprend’s Capital Market Survey shows that investors have a keen interest in information about market trends and challenges, as well as financial targets and achievements. These items were ranked as important by 91% of the capital market.
More than half of the Finnish companies deliver information about financial and market outlook, compared with a modest 15.9% of FT Europe 500 companies. Much like last year, Finland outperforms in presenting financial targets and information on risk management routines, with high average fulfilment levels of 76% and 92%, respectively. In comparison, corresponding figures for FT Europe 500 companies are 25.2% and 39.8%, respectively.
Governance: providing transparent information
On governance content, Finnish corporate websites average a high 76% of total score, showing that the content provided is in line with the expectations of digital audiences. A bright spot is the information on insider dealings, with an average fulfilment level of 95%. This includes disclosing the company’s insiders including ownership and information on recent share transactions. By comparison, only 14.6% of FT Europe 500 companies disclose this information.
User experience: enhanced mobile friendliness
Along with the increasing visits from mobile devices, Finnish corporate websites manage to meet the need for mobile friendliness by offering responsive websites with faster loading speeds. Slightly over 60% of the Finnish websites surveyed are responsive, compared with just 38% last year. On loading speed, 40% of the websites attain satisfactory levels for mobile devices.
Career information: an area for improvement
Providing career information to attract prospective employees is an area where Finnish companies perform below the FT Europe 500, averaging only 34.8% of the total score. The gaps are related to information about working environment, compensation and benefits, skill development and diversity policies. For instance, the average Finnish fulfilment rate of providing information about compensation policies and employee benefits is 28%, which is low in contrast to the 86% of jobseekers who find it important. Another example of where improvements could be made is regarding diversity and equal opportunities, which only 44% of the Finnish companies receive credit for, in comparison to 64.6% of the FT Europe 500 companies.
The results
Kesko increased its score by an impressive 14.2 points from last year and received the top position, receiving 87.5 points. Wärtsilä, the winner of the last two consecutive years, received the second highest score of 84.5 points. Fortum increased its score by 2.1 points from last year and took third place, followed by Metso retaining fourth place with the score of 74.7 points. Valmet is this year’s climber, increasing its score by 16.2 points from last year, moving from 19th to 6th place.
See the full Finnish Webranking results here.
“Kesko has taken an impressive step forward to improve its digital corporate communication. It is especially Kesko’s flawless introductory information about the company, its financial reporting, the close to full score in all investor-related sections, and transparent communication on corporate direction and control that brings the company to the top,” says Staffan Lindgren, Managing Partner of Comprend.
Read what Kauppalehti writes about the results (in Finnish).
More information
For more information about Webranking and the global findings, please download the 2015-2016 Webranking Highlight Magazine.
Questions about Webranking by Comprend? Contact Helena Wennergren, Head of Marketing and Research
at 070-971 12 10 or helena.wennergren@comprend.com.
