Internet corporate reporting among public listed companies in Malaysia: An exploratory study

This study examines the utilisation of the Internet for disseminating corporate information among 100 top companies listed on Bursa Malaysia in the year 2007. These companies were chosen based on market capitalisation and relied on website observation and content analysis. An Internet disclosure index of 61 content items was categorised into four major groups: accounting and financial information, corporate governance, corporate social responsibility (CSR), contact details of investor relations and related conveniences. In addition, 26 presentation format items categorised into two major groups: technological features and convenience and usability of website navigation support were used as benchmark. The results indicate that the highest disclosure by the companies accrued for accounting and financial information attributes. The lowest disclosures by companies accrued for technology features attributes. The results show that more than 59% of the Malaysian public listed companies published reasonably well-developed Internet-based reporting and achieved a quality score for Internet Corporate Reporting (ICR). On average, the frequency of the identified items disclosed by the companies for the content of the website was higher than for the presentation of information. Among the six categories identified, technological features theme was considered as a critical part that needs attention from the Malaysian companies. The results also show that most companies provided their full annual reports using Portable Document Format (PDF). However, none of the companies adopt Extensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) format. Therefore, Malaysian companies are urged to seize more opportunities provided by the Internet technology in preparing their ICR.