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Strengths:
Forward-looking information
Integration of CR issues
Weaknesses:
Employee information
Non-financial KPIs
Throughout Sainsbury’s 2007 report, illustrated spreads highlight the range of initiatives the retailer has taken in its approach to corporate responsibility. Some investors may not take to the scattered, snapshot approach, but it’s definitely more inviting than a page of text to the lay-reader. Among the issues covered are suppliers, the environment and healthy eating – a discussion of the latter providing some interesting information about the marketplace. Brief references to employees are also featured, although accompanying detail is lacking.
Strategic information is provided in the form of an update to Sainsbury’s three year plan. Redefining the plan to cover 2007 to 2010, the information is forward-looking and includes a range of targets as well as progress against previous financial targets. Non-financial indicators are, however, fairly limited across the report. Given the prominence awarded to corporate responsibility, we expected to see comparable metrics relating to some of these issues.
Online:
Sainsbury has clearly thought about how its report might be made more engaging online - which is a step ahead of many of its peers. A video of CEO Justin King introduces the business review, for example, while the spreads from the printed report become flash-based diagrams online. However, the navigation can become confusing once users have linked to the diagrams and the report loses marks for a lack of Excel downloads.
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