Abstract:
CSR has become a greater important area of research among researches in the
financial area in recent years. Most of entities perform CSR activities for its
stakeholders than shareholders. This has led to the emergence of new dimension in
financial reporting known as social responsibility reporting. It is not mandatory in Sri
Lanka as in many other countries. Hence CSR disclosures are provided in the
voluntary disclosures (Abeysinghe & Basnayake, 2013). This study was carried out
to identify the level of CSR disclosure and its relationship with financial performance
in listed Food and beverages tobacco sector companies in Sri Lanka.
Study consisted 15 food and beverages tobacco sector companies as the sample. The
study was carried out using secondary data. Data were obtained by using annual
reports of the selected companies over the last ten years starting from 2008 to 2017.
The financial performance of the companies was measure by using ROE. CSR
disclosure was measured by using Global Reporting Initiatives (GRI G4 guidelines).
The results revealed that the level of CSR disclosure in food and beverages tobacco
sector companies in Sri Lanka was at moderate level. The level of CSR disclosure for
last ten years was positive and with incremental trend. CSR subcategories (Social,
Environment) also had positive incremental trend except economic categories.
Finally study showed that level of corporate social responsibility disclosure was,
significantly related with corporate financial performance in food and beverages
tobacco sector companies in Sri Lanka. Also level of disclosure of CSR subs
categories (social, environmental & economic) and financial performance has a
positive relationship with each other
