Some significant figures:
- 52.6% of market operators and 46.5% of journalist (23.7% of the quoted companies) identify a significant relationship between financial communication quality and company credibility;
- To the view of journalists (51.2%) and market operators (47.4%) the low quality of Parmalat communication played a key role in the crisis. Only 23.7% of listed companies agree with the market operators.
- Parmalat was considered not very clear and transparent in financial communication by 57.9% of market operators and by 46.5% of journalists. Moreover 35% of market operators and 32% of journalists say that the management of the company was not willing to provide any further analysis on annual results.
- Parmalat scandal will affect the credibility of Italian listed companies only in the short period for 47.4% of market operators versus 23.3% of economic journalists and 15.2% of listed companies; in the long period for 34.9% of economic journalists, 21.1% of market operators and 15.8% of listed companies as the impact of Parmalat crisis stresses the structural inefficiencies of Italian financial system;
- 44.2% of economic journalist, already before Parmalat scandal, thought that Italian listed companies had a worse communication compared to foreign listed companies.
"2004 is the zero year of financial communication and Investor Relations in Italy - states Riccardo Taverna, Partner of B2 Comunicazione - Parmalat scandal, Cirio crisis and the problems of some companies of the Nuovo Mercato provide the opportunity to improve all the standards about clearness and transparency in communication, on pain of loss of competitiveness, at a national and international level, in the challenge to find financial resources. The essential condition to be effective in the competition will be the greater knowledge of the interlocutors' expectations of the market and the analysis of perception they have of each company".
The complete research is available contacting B2 Comunicazione