Disclosure of Non-financial Information: The Case of Croatian Listed Companies

Abstract

Financial reporting is standardized, mandatory and regulated by numerous regulations, and financial statements in the prescribed form must be published by all companies. Reporting on non-financial information has not yet been harmonized. It is still voluntary in a large extent and it depends on the willingness of management. The interests of different users of financial statements about non-financial information of companies are increasing. For the purpose of making investment and other business decisions, investors require more information about the company, employees, relations and environmental sustainability and responsible sourcing. These requirements of investors are forcing managers to publish additional non-financial information about the company. The annual report is the most important source for the publication of non-financial information. The consistency and transparency in disclosure of non-financial information in the annual report strengthens the confidence of investors in the company. The level of non-financial information disclosed in the annual report is examined on a sample of the most liquid non-financial companies at the Zagreb Stock Exchange. The analysis includes the annual reports for 3 years (2013, 2014 and 2015) in order to compare the policy of publication of non-financial information over 3 years and to determine the non-financial information (NFI) disclosure index. The study results showed an unsatisfactory level of published non-financial information of companies which are listed on the Zagreb Stock Exchange, but the policy of publication of non-financial information indicates enhancing in the transparency of the disclosure of non-financial information during the last 3 years.