Spanish companies continue to provide outstanding sustainability communication but need to improve Investor Relations

By Freja Nilsson 

In the Webranking 2021-2022, Spanish companies perform slightly under the European average. Their sustainability communication stands out among their European peers, but they struggle with Investor Relations information. 

In this year's Webranking, we have ranked the 22 largest companies in Spain. The Spanish companies have performed slightly under the European average; they have an average score of 41.7 points compared with the European average of 43.6 points. Spanish companies do an excellent job in providing sustainability content, and they also include detailed About us sections. Like many other European companies, the Spanish struggle to meet stakeholder expectations regarding the Investor Relations communication on their websites.

All companies explain their sustainability strategy

Spanish companies are generally good at explaining their sustainability work on their corporate websites. The companies include detailed sustainability strategies; all of the ranked Spanish companies have presented their sustainability strategy.

CaixaBank present a detailed description of their sustainability strategy complemented by illustrations and charts, making it easier for the reader to get an overview of the strategy. CaixaBank include different sustainability goals for each ESG area - environmental, social and governance. The same company also present a dialogue plan where they have taken the communication aspect into account and explain their plan on which stakeholders they need to have a dialogue with to achieve their goals.

Sustainability data is another area where Spanish companies are ahead of the European average. 64% of the Spanish companies have included environmental data compared with the European average of 54%. Sustainability data is something that stakeholders expect to find on corporate websites; 90% of the respondents of Comprend's Capital Market survey 2021 find sustainability data important.

Repsol grandly present this by providing a separate tool for their sustainability data, including several key performance indicators. The tool includes data from five years back, and it is also possible to compare Repsol's performance with their targets. It is also possible for the users to create graphs with the data they are most interested in. By introducing this tool, Repsol offer the users a high level of personalization.

Extensive research and development information

The Spanish companies also include detailed About us pages where they introduce their companies well. The companies perform a lot better than the European average when it comes to presenting research and development projects; 75% of the ranked Spanish companies include this on their website, while the European average is 48%.

Endesa provide a designated innovation section on their website where they give detailed explanations of how they work with innovation in various areas. Endesa also explain how their innovation projects relate to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, which clarifies that their sustainability and innovation work go hand in hand.

IR information must be improved

The main challenge for the Spanish companies lies within Investor Relations information, with an average of 16% fulfillment which means that their stakeholders need to find other sources for the information. The websites often lack information about the companies' strategies as well as financial targets and the achievement of the targets.

One Spanish company that does present a clear explanation of their company strategy are Repsol. Repsol present, for example, a page that summarizes their strategy for every business area and with the possibility for the user to download the full strategy to read more.

It is also common that the Spanish companies do not present a personal contact for Investor Relations - only 23% of Spanish companies offer a personal IR contact, compared to 50% in Europe. This is especially concerning since 93% of the stakeholders find an Investor Relations contact important.

One of the few companies that include personal contacts to the Investor Relations team is ArcelorMittal. ArcelorMittal provide a dedicated contact section for Investor Relations-related matters. It is also appreciated that they include a form to request a meeting, making it easier for the investors to contact the IR team.

The Spanish top performers

Repsol continue to be the best performing company in Spain, with a score that is considerably higher than their Spanish peers; 20.7 points higher than the second-best performer CaixaBank. Repsol do an outstanding job in including relevant information across the whole website, and both their Sustainability and Careers communication stand out.

CaixaBank have improved their score by 12.1 points since last year's Webranking, and because of that, they have climbed from eighth place to second place on the Spanish list, kicking ArcelorMittal down to sixth place. CaixaBank is also the Spanish company that have improved their score the most since last year. CaixaBank have, for example, improved the About Us, Investor Relations and Careers pages on their website. 

Ferrovial keep the third place from last year and are also strong performers when it comes to Sustainability communication. Ferrovial also provide detailed About Us information and a press section that includes their own magazine, as well as a blog.

*Out of 100

See the full results list for Spain or read more about the Webranking Report.

Helena Wennergren

Senior consultant

helena.wennergren@comprend.com

+46 70 971 12 10

Webranking

webranking@comprend.com