Axis, Infosys and SBI emerge top disclosure champions

22 firms score over 90% in FTI study of 200 companies

Axis Bank, Infosys and State Bank of India topped the list of select Indian companies that have taken a progressive view of disclosure, taking it beyond a “legalistic definition”.

These companies topped a list prepared by global advisory firm FTI Consulting, scoring “10/10” on the weighted composite disclosure score. The composite disclosure score takes into account seven mandatory disclosure parameters and eight voluntary ones.

Superior disclosure practices are considered a proxy for superior management quality and better corporate governance, FTI said in the study, part of it’s the India Disclosure Index 2017 report. The big three were part of 22 “disclosure champions”, scoring higher than 9/10. “Two years ago, such champions came from one or two sectors. This year, they come from four knowledge economy and three old economy sectors. Each of these companies are setting an example on corporate disclosure for other companies in their respective sectors,” Amrit Singh Deo, managing director in the strategic communications segment of FTI Consulting, said in a statement.

The financial sector had the highest number of disclosure champions at six. Apart from the top two, IndusInd, YES Bank, Union Bank of India and Federal Bank made it to the list. Bharti Airtel, Bharti Infra and Mindtree were the top performers in the information technology/telecom space, while Lupin, Piramal and Biocon were the champions among pharma companies. Mahindra, Apollo and Supreme Industries topped the manufacturing list and Tata Steel, United Phosphorous and Vedanta were among the companies with best disclosures in the metals and mining sector. HUL, Dish TV and JSW Energy were the other companies with good disclosure scores among the 200 companies analysed by the study.

According to the report, “Higher voluntary disclosure scores indicate corporate India is taking a progressive view of disclosure, beyond a legalistic definition. However, one must bear in mind that disclosure standard itself is a moving target and this report covers leading Indian companies only. Boards could articulate disclosure policies, anticipating new risks, regulatory developments and global best practices, and better prepare their companies to attract transparency premiums from investors.”

Overall, the top 100 companies had a composite disclosure score of 6.8/10 and voluntary disclosure score of 5/8, suggesting there was room for improvement.