Novozymes, SSAB and BASF top Annual Report on Annual Reports 2022
Press release
The 26th edition of the independent and international survey of corporate reporting best practice—Annual Report on Annual Reports—has now been published.
This year we’ve read and evaluated 500 annual reports from across the globe. In addition, an external jury has given their input to the rating. The evaluation is made on 20 criteria in five sections that cover everything from introduction, strategy, operations, ESG and financial information to style.
The best performing section is Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG), where companies are particularly good at describing their sustainability strategy.
However, the total average score this year was lower than last year: 59.7 out of 100, compared to 62.1 last year, and 65.3 the year before. The section with the most significantdrop was "Strategy and Operations", which dropped from 65% to 59%. This is unfortunate as information about a company's strategy is the most important piece of information in an annual report according to our Capital Market survey earlier this year. The importance of information about operations has also increased according to the survey.
Top performers
The competition among the top performers is very tight. Danish Novozymes was finally this year’s winner, followed by Swedish-Finnish SSAB and German BASF.
- Novozymes’ 2021 Report holds high quality in all parts of the report. It's an integrated report that manages to present large amounts of information in a factual way that is pleasant to read. The report's design is relatively simple but well thought through, making it easy to use. Their clear presentation of targets and status is an excellent example of how to decomplexify information.
- SSAB Annual Report 2021 is particularly strong in strategy and operations information, with a good balance between the market and strategy section and the business segments. SSAB's financial statements are well-designed and provide both links to the notes and a linked table of contents for the notes.
- BASF remains in the top 3 list thanks to a solid report in all areas. Their business and value creation model is a good example where they include both positive and negative impacts as part of the outcomes. The report is well-linked between the sections and links to the website for further information. BASF also provide a complete and very well-designed online annual report.
All top 3 have adapted the design for users who read the report on screen - the reports are in landscape format with hyperlinks within the report, making it easy for the reader to both read the report page by page and to go between sections of the report. SSAB's navigation links are the better of the three reports, but they don't provide an online report, which both Novozymes and BASF do. Novozymes' online report is an overview of the report and doesn't include all content, which BASF's online report does.
> Read the full Annual Report on Annual Reports 2022
Top 20
| Ranking | Company | Sector | Country | Rating |
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| 1 | Novozymes | Health Care | Denmark | A+ |
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| 2 | SSAB | Basic Resources | Sweden | A |
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| 3 | BASF | Chemicals | Germany | A |
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| 4 | SKF | Basic Resources | Sweden | A |
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| 5 | Ahold Delhaize | Personal Care, Drug and Grocery Stores | Netherlands | A |
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| 6 | UPM | Basic Resources | Finland | A |
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| 7 | Stora Enso | Basic Resources | Finland | A |
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| 8 | SCA | Basic Resources | Sweden | A- |
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| 9 | Akzo Nobel | Chemicals | Netherlands | A- |
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| 10 | Essity | Personal Care, Drug and Grocery Stores | Sweden | A- |
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| 11 | Pandox | Real Estate | Sweden | A- |
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| 12 | BillerudKorsnäs | Basic Resources | Sweden | A- |
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| 13 | Mondi | Basic Resources | United Kingdom | A- |
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| 14 | Anglo American | Basic Resources | United Kingdom | A- |
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| 15 | Assa Abloy | Construction and Materials | Sweden | A- |
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| 15 | Bravida | Construction and Materials | Sweden | A- |
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| 17 | Boliden | Basic Resources | Sweden | A- |
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| 18 | EQT | Financial Services | Sweden | A- |
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| 19 | ASM International | Technology | Netherlands | A- |
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| 20 | Outokumpu | Basic Resources | Finland | A- |
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About Annual Report on Annual Reports
Annual Report on Annual Reports (AR on AR) is an independent global survey on annual reporting practice. Its purpose is to highlight the best examples to inspire more companies to create better reports. AR on AR is conducted by ReportWatch which was acquired by Comprend from e-com in April 2020.
About Comprend
Comprend is the leading digital communication agency for public companies. We help senior teams succeed with a relentless focus on understanding audiences and inspiring the people that matter. Together with our clients, we help them transform and execute their communication combining digital and corporate communication expertise. We are experienced and passionate professionals working from Stockholm, London and everywhere.
We are proud part of H&H Group.
For more information, please contact Helena Wennergren, responsible for ReportWatch and Annual Report on Annual Reports, +46 70 971 12 10, helena.wennergren@comprend.com.
