Financial Times publish the result of the H&H Webranking 2007 Europe

Monday, November 12, 2007

The result of the H&H Webranking 2007 Europe are published in Financial Times. Telecom Italia takes the crown for the first time ever in the survey that highlights European best practice standard and transparency in online communication.

Telecom Italia takes its top position this year after they surprised with a third place in last year’s rankings. Second place goes to the Spanish oil producer Repsol and Italian UniCredit rounding out the top three best performers. The Dutch express company TNT, who won both in both 2005 and 2006, this year dropped to forth place. The H&H Webranking survey is conducted by the Swedish financial communication consultancy Hallvarsson & Halvarsson.

Italian companies have some of the best corporate websites in Europe, a remarkably turnaround from five years ago when they ranked at the bottom.  Sweden, traditionally the leader since the original survey began there 11 years ago – has fallen outside the top ten for the first time. “These results reflect the creation of a culture in Italy where there is a big commitment to openness” says Marcus Eriksson, Head of the survey at Hallvarsson & Halvarsson.

In contrast companies in France and Russia had poorly performing websites. Only one French company, the aerospace group EADS, made it into the top 40, while no Russian company made it into the top 100 in Europe.

There is less focus on the corporate websites as a communication channel in Russia. The sites contain a smaller amount of English content and a smaller proportion of the Russian population is online compared to Western Europe. “However, they will have to embrace it, if they want to attract foreign capital” Mr Eriksson says.

Corporate websites are becoming an increasingly important source of information for investors, financial analysts and business journalists. About 80 per cent of the respondents to a questionnaire, the first step in the H&H Webranking survey, said they worked constantly connected to the Internet. 90 per cent considered the corporate websites the most important source of financial information for listed companies.

More information on H&H Webranking website
H&H Webranking 2007 Europe - Results

The article in Financial Times (FT)
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/840238de-907b-11dc-a6f2-0000779fd2ac.html