Singapore, Australia have most transparent companies: S&P
Singapore, Australia have most transparent companies: S&P
Agence France-Presse, Singapore
Singapore and Australia have the most transparent companies in the Asia-Pacific, while Taiwan firms are the least open, global ratings agency Standard and Poor's said Thursday.
S and P said findings in its latest survey showed a need for companies to improve the disclosure of timely and adequate information on a firm's operating and financial performance.
Non-disclosure of vital information by corporations had been cited as a key factor to the Asian financial crisis that crippled East Asia in 1997 and 1998.
During the Asian crisis, previously undisclosed high debt exposures and bad investments were unmasked, sending companies crying for financial bailouts.
In its survey on transparency and disclosure, "the highest scoring companies are from Australia and Singapore, all showing average to above average levels of disclosure," the U.S.-based credit evaluator said in a statement.
Taiwanese companies were the "least transparent" in the region, with 21 of the lowest scores, it said.
Grouping companies on a scale of one to 10 with 10 being the best score, the Australian firms AMCOR Ltd., AMP Ltd., Westpac Banking and Woolworths Ltd. as well as DBS Group Holdings Ltd. and CapitalLand Ltd. of Singapore got the highest ranking of eight.
Thirteen Australian firms and six Singapore corporations dominated the next tier in the rankings, broken only by the inclusion of Korea Telecom and Malayan Banking Bhd. of Malaysia.
Among the Singapore firms in the list were Singapore Airlines and Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. and United Overseas Bank Ltd. The Australian firms included ANZ Banking Group Ltd., Brambles Industries Ltd. and BHP Billiton Ltd.
Samsung Corp. of South Korea was the lone firm at the bottom of the scale.
"The regional findings underscore the need to improve corporate transparency, which was a critical factor leading up to the financial crisis in East Asia in the late 1990s," S and P said.
"As a subsequent result, investors today continue to demand more transparency in corporate reporting, among other key elements needed to better assess risk across markets."
The survey rated companies on the basis of their disclosure of 98 information items in their annual reports.
These items relate to the companies' ownership structure and investor relations, financial transparency as well as board management structure and process.