Integrated reporting for cheaper capital, says KPMG

CAPITAL COSTS could fall for companies brave enough to embrace integrated reporting, KMPG has suggested.

Monday's International Integrated Reporting Committee paper called for concise, user-friendly reports that allow stakeholders to extrapolate the links between financial performance and companies' social, economic and environmental framework.

The Big Four firm has gone one step further, saying integrated reporting might open doors to cash "at a reasonable cost" through improved relationships with investors and capital markets.

Audit partner David Matthews, a member of the IIRC's working group, warned: "Innovation is never plain sailing and not for the uncommitted".

KPMG's paper, Integrated Reporting: Performance Insight Through Better Business Reporting found multiple potential beneficiaries, including boards, chief executives and chief financial officers.

Green issues can also feed in. Vincent Neate, UK head of climate change and sustainability at KPMG, said shareholders "have a valid interest in understanding how these issues are being managed", adding: "The reality for companies is that environmental, social and governance issues are having an increasing impact on their ability to operate and generate profit."