Siam Cement Plc., wins Sustainability Report Awards for the third year running

Thai Listed Companies Association (TLCA), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Thaipat Institute jointly organised the Sustainability Report Awards 2015. The award was hotly contested this year, with as many as 106 companies submitting their sustainability reports for review. The judging committee has unanimously agreed to bestow the Excellence Award to Siam Cement Plc., making this the third consecutive year it has won the prestigious award. Thai Oil Plc., Bangchak Petroleum Plc. and PTT Plc. are honored for their Best Sustainability Reports.

TLCA Chairman Surong Bulakul said that the association, in collaboration with the SEC and Thaipat Institute, had organised the annual contest for sustainability reports award since 2013, in recognition of the increasing attention being paid by companies to the environmental, social and governance aspects of modern business practice. Mr. Bulakul said investors also needed this corporate information to guide their investment decisions.

This year’s contest illustrated the great success of all efforts to drive company awareness of, and attention to, disclosure of these aspects of their performance. The total of 106 companies, both listed and non-listed, that submitted sustainability reports was a significant increase over 64 companies that submitted the reports in 2014. This reflected the growing importance of Thai companies developing and upgrading their environment, social and governance (ESG) disclosure.

Siam Cement Plc. is the only company to be honored with the Excellence Award for its sustainability report in 2015. Three companies, Thai Oil Plc., Bangchak Petroleum Plc. and PTT Plc., were granted the Best Awards, while 19 organizations, including Kasikornbank Plc., Somboon Advance Technology Plc. and Metropolitan Electricity Authority, receive the Outstanding Awards. This year, nine organizations, including Siam Commercial Bank Plc., Minor Group International Plc. and L.P.N. Development Plc., are given the Recognition Awards.

Securities and Exchange Commission Secretary-General Rapee Sucharitakul said under its role to govern, supervise and develop Thai capital market, SEC had given importance to sustainable development of the capital market, and provided continued supports for the Sustainability Report Award. The Awards will help stimulate and promote implementation of CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) among listed companies.

This is in accordance with the SEC’s aim to have both listed companies and those issuing securities to incorporate CSR into their organisational strategies and disclose this information in their annual reports and prospectuses. Thus, listed companies will not only focus on making a profit, but also consider likely impacts of their activities on stakeholders, society and the environment. This could lead businesses towards sustainable growth, prompting investors to gain confidence and generating wide recognition at regional and international levels.

Thaipat Institute Director Dr. Pipat Yodprudtikan said that overall, the sustainability reports from participating organisations were better developed than those in 2014. There is general recognition of three aspects: completeness, reliability and clearer communication and presentation.  The International Sustainability Reporting Guidelines (GRI G4) are being employed more regularly as directions and references.

Given that as many as 106 companies took part this year, sustainability reporting is seeing a significant upward trend. Honoring the highest performing companies will inspire others to see opportunities to develop their reporting and disclosure of economic, social and environmental performance, with higher quality information.