The Level of Sustainability Reporting of Malaysian IPO Companies

Abstract Purpose – This paper aims to determine the level of sustainability reporting (SR) in Malaysian initial public offering (IPO) companies. Due to the general poor awareness about SR and its dimensions, these aspects have not been receiving the necessary push from the public domain. Design/methodology/approach – This study is exploratory in nature employing secondary data through the content analysis of the annual reports of 139 sampled IPOs listed on Bursa Malaysia for the period of 2007–2017. The data was analysed using descriptive statistics, whilst extent and quality were used as measures of SR. Findings – The results show that the extent and quality of SR in Malaysian IPO companies have improved over the years with a small improvement from one year to the next. The extent of SR was at 20.70% with society disclosure at 32.77% and energy disclosure at 22.48%, while employee disclosure showed the highest prevalence at 34.87% and product disclosure recorded the lowest prevalence at 9.88%. The quality of SR was at 32.04% with society disclosure recording the highest prevalence at 36.09%, energy disclosure at 20.28%, employee disclosure at 34.13%, and finally product disclosure indicating the lowest prevalence at 9.50%. Research limitations/implications – The dimensions of SR namely society, energy, employee, and product issues received little interest from most of the companies. This study proposes the need for additional studies investigating SR in IPO companies. Originality/value – This study makes a significant contribution to the information related to SR in Malaysian IPO companies. The findings can facilitate financial institutions and regulatory agencies in driving responsibility on the part of companies regarding SR issues.