Reporting policy

Stedin Group reports half-yearly and yearly per calendar year; the most recent report was the Stedin Holding 2019 half-year report. This annual report of Stedin Group relates to the period 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2019. It consists of the Report of the Board of Management, the Report of the Supervisory Board (including the Remuneration Report) and the financial statements. The financial information of Stedin Holding N.V. for the full year 2019 and comparative figures for 2018 are presented and accounted for in the financial statements. The financial statements have been prepared in conformity with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), as adopted by the EU. The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards are applicable to our non-financial performance, at comprehensive level. Stedin Group also complies with the EU Directive on disclosure of non-financial and diversity information as applicable to Public Interest Entities (PIE).

The financial information in this annual report has been consolidated for Stedin Holding N.V. and its subsidiaries. The subsidiaries Stedin, Joulz Diensten, and DNWG are consolidated in the non-financial information within Stedin Group. Discontinued operations are included for the period in which they were part of the group.

Stakeholder selection

By means of this report, we aim to inform a broad target group of stakeholders about our performance. We identify the following groups of stakeholders: customers, employees, shareholders, municipalities/local residents, investors/capital providers, suppliers and environmental organisations/NGOs. This selection is based on our analysis according to which they have the greatest influence on our strategy and business operations and at the same time experience the greatest impact from our activities and strategic choices.

Reporting standards

For its non-financial performance, Stedin Group applies the GRI Standards at the 'comprehensive' level and the guidelines of the <IR> Framework of the International Integrated Reporting Council. We aim to progress continually towards structuring our report as an integrated report that meets the requirements of the <IR> Framework and the GRI Standards.

The consolidated financial statements of Stedin Group have been prepared in conformity with IFRS as applicable at 31 December 2017 and as adopted by the European Union (EU), and the definitions of Part 9, Book 2 of the Dutch Civil Code. IFRS comprises both the IFRS standards and the International Accounting Standards issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and the interpretations of IFRS and IAS standards by the IFRS Interpretations Committee (IFRIC) and the Standing Interpretations Committee (SIC) respectively.

In addition, Stedin Group complies with the regulations applying to Public Interest Entities, including the Audit Firms (Supervision) Act (Wet toezicht accountantsorganisaties, Wta). With effect from 2018, Stedin Group also voluntarily applies the Dutch Corporate Governance Code. Departures are explained.

Reporting process

The Board of Management is ultimately responsible for the integrated annual report and has delegated its preparation to a steering group. The Reporting project leader is responsible for the composition of the report. The responsibility regarding content is divided between the Strategy, Communication, Finance and Risk departments. The financial and non-financial strategic KPIs are an integral part of the planning and control cycle. The results are discussed in the regular business reviews. A responsible party is designated for each topic on the basis of an accountability index. The Board of Management reviews the final version before it is submitted to the Supervisory Board.

Selection of topics

Content selection is based on the strategy including strategic themes, risks and opportunities and key performance indicators (KPIs) as defined by the Board of Management. The contents of the annual report will be partly determined in the years ahead on the basis of the materiality analysis. The topics in the 2019 materiality matrix are based on interviews held with both internal and external stakeholders.

SDGs

Stedin Group reports on the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs, drawn up to make the world ‘a better place' by 2030) that are relevant to us. Stedin Group contributes to a limited extent to achieving those goals. We provide insight into this in the sections 'One Planet projects 2019 per impact area' and 'SDGs that impact Stedin (directly or indirectly)', with cross-references to the relevant disclosure in the annual report.

DNWG

We have aimed to disclose results at the Stedin Group level wherever possible in this report. Where it was not possible at year-end 2019 to present the DNWG results, the Stedin result only is reported. To the best of our knowledge, the reported data fairly present our performance.

Assurance of non-financial information

This financial year, no assurance was sought with regard to the reliability of the non-financial information. We may do so for the 2020 financial year.