The Integrated Reporting Committee (IRC) of South Africa welcomes the release of an international framework for an integrated report and applauds the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) for its work.

 

The finalisation of the International Integrated Reporting Framework will go a long way to encourage organisations around the world to prepare an integrated report that shows their performance against strategy, explains the various capitals used and affected, and gives a longer term view of the organisation. The integrated report is regarded as the evolution of the traditional annual report because it offers a more holistic view of an organisation than financial performance alone, thus enabling investors and other stakeholders to make a more informed assessment of the organisation and its prospects.

 

South African organisations are acknowledged as among the leaders in this area of corporate reporting with many listed companies and large state-owned companies having issued integrated reports for the past three years. Integrated reporting is one of the recommendations of the King Code of Governance in South Africa 2009 (King III) and as such falls into the JSE’s listings requirements on an apply or explain basis.

 

The IRC will be reviewing the international Framework, considering its applicability in the South African context, and will communicate its view in the first few months of 2014. The IRC anticipates that it will organise a seminar on the Framework for companies and other interested parties (similar to that hosted by the IRC, JSE and IIRC to launch the Draft Framework in April this year) in Johannesburg in the first few months of 2014.