Introduction

The release of the King II report on corporate governance in 2002 led South African companies to place emphasis in their reporting on the “triple bottom-line” approach, encompassing economic, social and environmental sustainability. This approach provides shareholders and other stakeholders with a broad perspective of all spheres of sustainability within the reporting company.

This mode of reporting continues to mature, and Foschini Limited (referred to below as Foschini or “the group”) recognises that ongoing attention will need to be given to the formalised monitoring and measuring of non-financial indicators.

Our view of sustainability remains that it is the need to ensure long-term, balanced profitability in the group through innovation and inventiveness, without compromising short-term competitiveness.

Consideration must at the same time be given to the needs of all our stakeholders, and our responsibilities to the environment and future generations must be taken into account as we recognise that these will be the source of our sustained growth.

Foschini’s primary stakeholders, being its shareholders, employees, suppliers, customers, government, local communities and society at large, are all mutually dependent partners in the sustainability process.

Our approach to sustainability is summarised further in this report.