Kesko's Corporate Responsibility Report is the best in Finland

KESKO CORPORATION PRESS RELEASE 12.11.2014 AT 17.00 1(2)

Kesko's Corporate Responsibility Report is the best in Finland

Kesko's Corporate Responsibility Report 2013 was chosen as Finland's best in this year's Sustainability Reporting Award Finland Competition. Kesko's report was ranked the best also by non-governmental organisations.

According to the judging panel, Kesko has reported its social and economic responsibility indicators exceptionally well and extensively, and has very comprehensively discussed, for example, product safety and marketing responsibility. The report, readily available online, also appeals to a wider audience.  

The winner was chosen by the group of competition organisers consisting of Aalto University School of Economics, the Finnish Institute of Authorised Public Accountants, Nasdaq Helsinki, the Ministry of Employment and the Economy, the Association for Environmental Management, the Ministry of the Environment and Corporate Responsibility Network FIBS.

Kesko's Corporate Responsibility Report 2013 is Kesko's 14th report. The revised report was published on the web and it discusses, for example, taxes and stakeholder views even more openly than before. The diversity of Kesko's responsibility work is also illustrated with videos.


"Responsibility is our common success factor to which the whole of our personnel, from top management to store employees, are committed. It's great to see that our long-term responsibility work and reporting are valued in relevant comparisons and reporting competitions. A continuous revision of the corporate responsibility report has brought us success despite increasing competition," says Kesko's President and CEO Matti Halmesmäki.

Kesko's report was also NGOs' choice for the best report

In addition to the main prize, the competition includes the Reader's Choice Award category, in which representatives of the key audiences,  the media, investors, non-governmental organisations and students, present their awards.
Non-governmental organisations selected Kesko's report as the best. This year, the NGOs' choice was made by Senior Advisor Elina Moisio of Akava.

"The main criterion in my 'reader's choice' was how well a company's corporate responsibility report discussed possible deficiencies that had emerged during the year," says Elina Moisio.

Moisio values the fact that the Finnish food and grocery trade has realised how the mitigation of climate change helps generate savings in energy consumption, reduce wastage, cut transport costs as well as building and maintenance costs. The theme is comprehensively discussed in Kesko's Corporate Responsibility Report.

More detailed information on the evaluation criteria, award presenters and selection criteria of the 2014 competition are available in the competition summary report at www.fibsry.fi (in Finnish).

Kesko's Corporate Responsibility Report 2013 presents the objectives, actions and results of Kesko's responsibility programme and responsibility work in accordance with the new GRI G4 reporting guidelines. The report can be read at http://corporateresponsibility2013.kesko.fi.

Further information is available from Matti Kalervo, Kesko's Vice President for Corporate Responsibility, telephone +358 50 306 4081.

Kesko (www.kesko.fi) is one of the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World. We are a retail specialist whose chains have about 2,000 stores in the Nordic and Baltic countries, Russia, and Belarus. Our stores offer quality to the daily lives of consumers.

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Source: Kesko Oyj via Globenewswire
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