Analysis of the Relationship Between Financial Faılures and Sustaınability Reports of Companies Publishing SASB Reports

Öz

What the relationship is between a company’s sustainability report and its financial performance is a question awaiting an answer. One answer to this question involves determining the place and impact financial sustainability has with regard to overall sustainability. As such, this article analyzes the relationship between the concept of sustainability and the concept of financial failure based on whether companies with a high probability of financial failure published a sustainability report in the same period. As an indicator of financial failure, the Z’’ score developed by Altman and Hotchkiss (2006) for non-manufacturing and specific industries (retailers, telecommunications, airlines, etc.) was taken as the basis. The transportation sector was selected among the companies with published SASB reports because the transportation sector is one of the certain non-manufacturing sectors for which the Z” score was developed. This sector shows 43 companies that have published SASB reports and financial data to be accessible for 40 companies. However, no Z’’ score has been calculated for companies founded since 2017, thus the Altman Z’’scores were calculated according to the five-year financial statements 39 companies had published between 2016-2020. The study examines whether companies with a Z’’ score under 4.35 (indicating financial difficulty) and companies with a Z’’ score between 4.35-5.85 (indicating the financial gray zone) have published sustainability reports. The results of the paper show the number of companies that published sustainability reports to have increased in recent years, even companies that are in trouble or financial uncertainty. In other words, eight companies were found to be in financial distress for the five years between 2016-2020, with four of these companies having published sustainability reports during that time, three being airline companies and one operating in the automobile sector.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Financial failure
• Sustainability
• Altman Z’’ score

SASB Raporu Yayınlayan Şirketlerin Finansal Başarısızlıkları ile Sürdürülebilirlik Raporları Arasındaki İlişkinin Analizi

Öz

Şirketler 1900’lü yılların başlarından itibaren finansal sıkıntı, iflas vb. mali sıkıntılar ile yüzleşmek zorunda kalmışlardır. Geçmişte yaşanan bu finansal krizlerden çıkardıkları derslerle yeni araç ve yöntemler geliştirmişlerdir. Sürdürülebilirlik raporlaması da bu yöntemlerden birisidir. Bu yöntemle paydaşların bilgi ihtiyacı daha geniş ve daha derinlemesine karşılanması amaçlanmaktadır. Sürdürülebilirlik raporlaması finansal verilerinin yanında finansal olmayan verilerin de raporlanmasını gerektirmektedir. SASB (Sürdürülebilirlik Muhasebe Standartları Kurulu) sürdürülebilirlikle ilgili konularda şirketlerin yapması gereken raporlama ve kamuoyunu bilgilendirmeye dönük geniş kapsamlı bir işlev üstlenmiştir. Fakat şirketlerin finansal performansı ile sürdürülebilirlik raporu arasındaki ilişkinin ne yönde ve nasıl olduğu cevap bekleyen sorudur. Bu soruya verilebilecek cevaplardan biri de finansal sürdürülebilirliğin genel sürdürülebilirlikteki yeri ve etkisini belirlemektir. Bu hususa dönük olarak finansal başarısızlık olasılığı yüksek olan şirketlerin aynı dönemde sürdürülebilirlik raporu yayımlayıp yayımlamadığından yola çıkılarak sürdürülebilirlik kavramı ile finansal başarısızlık kavramı arasındaki ilişki analiz edilmiştir. Finansal başarısızlık göstergesi olarak Altman ve Hotchkiss (2006) tarafından imalat dışı sektörler ve belirli endüstriler için geliştirilen Z’’ skoru esas alınmıştır. SASB raporları yayımlanan şirketler arasından ulaşım sektörü seçilmiştir. Bunun nedeni Z’’ skorunun imalat dışı ve (ulaşım sektörü dahil) belirli sektörler için geliştirilmiş olmasıdır. Bu sektörde SASB kapsamında rapor yayımlayan uluslararası ve çeşitli ülkelerden 43 şirket olup, 40 şirketin finansal verisine ulaşılmıştır. Ancak bir şirket 2017 yılında kurulduğundan, Z’’ skoru hesaplanmamıştır. Bu nedenle 39 adet şirketin 2016-2020 yılları arasında yayınladıkları beş yıllık finansal tablolara göre Altman Z’’skoru hesaplanmıştır. Z’’ skoru 4.35 altında (sıkıntılı alan) olan şirketler ile 4.35-5.85 arasında (gri/belirsiz alan) olan şirketlerin sürdürülebilirlik raporu yayınlayıp yayınlamadığı incelenmiştir. Çalışma sonucunda şirketler sıkıntılı veya belirsiz alanda olmalarına karşın son yıllara yaklaştıkça sürdürülebilirlik raporu yayınlayan şirket sayısının arttığı görülmüştür. Başka deyişle 2016-2020 yılları arasında beş yıl boyunca finansal sıkıntıda olan sekiz adet şirket mevcuttur. Bu şirketlerden dört tanesi ilgili yıllar süresince sürdürülebilirlik raporu yayınlamış olup, üç tanesi havayolları bir tanesi otomobil sektöründe faaliyet göstermektedir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Finansal Başarısızlık
• Sürdürülebilirlik Muhasebesi
• Sürdürülebilirlik Raporu

Kaynakça

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