Integrated Reporting Compliance in Portuguese Companies

Abstract

Given the growing importance of reports with non-financial information, the aim of this study is to assess integrated reports (IR) published by Portuguese companies. The assessment was carried out considering the compliance (or not) with the current international standards for reporting. To achieve this goal, an analysis of 23 integrated reports published by seven Portuguese companies between 2016 and 2019 from different activity sectors were analyzed using the content analysis methodology and through the construction of a working tool based on the essential contents disclosed by the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) and by the European Commission Recommendation. In all the IRs analyzed, several topics that are considered as essential for inclusion by IIRC and the European Commission - COM 2017/C 215/01 were not disclosed by companies. This reveals that the need persists to develop the contents to be included in the IRs. The level of compliance is low, which demands greater consideration regarding the effect of standards for reporting practices.