How companies report and communicate during the COVID-19 crisis

In this podcast, recorded in June 2020, Mala Shah-Coulon, Head of EY UK’s Corporate Governance team, discusses with Phil Fitz-Gerald and Tom Toomse-Smith of the FR Lab, (part of the UK’s Financial Reporting Council) the following topics:

• What, how and why companies should be communicating and reporting during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The importance of using the section 172 statement to explain the choices and decisions made by directors during this challenging time and their regard for stakeholder interests, and the long-term success of the company.
• Useful resources and guidance from the FR Lab and the EY UK Corporate Governance team that companies can draw upon.

Key takeaways:

• The transition in how companies are communicating – initially focusing on short-term survival and liquidity - to now articulating how they will preserve long term value and emerge better/stronger beyond COVID-19.
• What investors are looking for in information published by companies and how they are starting to differentiate between companies that are well-placed for the future and those that are not.
• How companies are adapting their stakeholder communication and engagement strategies e.g., via more frequent use of videos.
• Useful resources from EY’s Corporate Governance Team and the FR Lab that companies can use to enhance their narrative reporting.

For your convenience, the full text transcript of this podcast is also available. Read the transcript