Kesko awarded for the best reporting on corporate responsibility in Finland

KESKO CORPORATION PRESS RELEASE 10.11.2011 AT 14.45 
 

Kesko's 2010 Corporate Responsibility Report has been chosen Finland's best in the Corporate Responsibility Reporting Competition. According to the jury, Kesko's reporting is comprehensive, impartial and reader friendly. Kesko's reporting was ranked the best also by students.

Since the first Corporate Responsibility Report Competition in 1996, Kesko has placed among the best for 12 times. The competition is organised by Aalto University School of Economics, the Confederation of Finnish Industries EK, Finnish Business & Society, the Finnish Institute of Authorised Public Accountants, the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK), the Ministry of Employment and the Economy, the Association for Environmental Management, and the Ministry of the Environment. President of the Republic Tarja Halonen was the patron of this year's competition. The awards of the competition were presented by Erkki Virtanen, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Employment and the Economy, at the Sanoma House Media Piazza in Helsinki, on 10 November.

According to the jury, Kesko's report covers particularly well the five key themes in its operations:  impact on society, wellbeing at work, energy solutions, responsible purchasing and sales and healthiness.

"We are especially happy and proud about this award, because the level of corporate responsibility reporting is higher year after year and success in the competition is not self-evident. Responsibility is visible to K-store customers on every shopping visit and we are making efforts so that customers can rely on the fact that their responsible choices start from entering the store. The versatility of this work is presented annually in our Corporate Responsibility Report", says Matti Halmesmäki, Kesko's President and CEO.

Readers' voice was heard in the competition

There was 149 entries in the Corporate Responsibility Competition of which 11 reports made it to the final evaluation.

For the first time in the competition, the favourites of analysts, non-governmental organisations, media, and students, in other words, the key readers of corporate responsibility reports, were awarded.

"Kesko's report is a balanced package of easily accessible practical information and heavy data, complemented with numerous case examples of corporate responsibility in practice. The management's vision and commitment have a strong presence in the report", said the students.

Further information:

CR Manager Helena Frilander, Kesko Corporation, tel. +358 1053 23143.

Kesko (www.kesko.fi) is a retail specialist whose stores offer quality to the daily lives of consumers. Kesko has about 2,000 stores engaged in chain operations in the Nordic and Baltic countries, Russia, and Belarus.