H&H Webranking Belgium published in L'Echo and De Tijd

Friday, January 15, 2010

The Belgian H&H Webranking result was today published in both Belgian newspapers L'Echo and De Tijd. The bancassurance group KBC with 56.25 (out of 100) take top position in H&H Webranking 2009 Belgium. The biopharma leader UCB climbs the ranking, from last year’s 5th position to second place this year with 46.75 points. The former silver medalist Inbev shares the Bronze with Umicore both with 46 points.

“KBC who came third last year mark off their fellow countrymen, scoring almost 10 points above the runner. KBC hits the ceiling in the majority of the surveyed areas,” says Marcus Eriksson head of H&H Webranking.

 The rankings show that some Belgian companies are using the online medium for financial disclosure reasonably effectively. However, even though there are only 14 companies included in Belgium the spread of results within the region ranges from 11 to 56.25 points. This indicates that the level of website performance differs substantially, with some companies performing poorly.

“Belgian companies use the online medium and functions more effective than the average European company, by offering their annual reports in an online version, updated calendar and online financial statistics. But in order to climb the ranking, Belgian companies should offer more content that is required by the capital marker. Reliable and transparent corporate communication is an essential part of the process to create trust,” says Robin Olenius consultant at H&H.

“We rarely see enough corporate governance information on Belgian corporate websites. As a consequence of the large interest from the capital market, companies should be transparent in this field, if not to mention because of the current bonus debate,“ says Marcus Eriksson head of H&H Webranking.

More information:

Read the article in Lecho
Read the article in De Tijd
H&H Webranking Belgium – Results