NEW WORLD DEPARTMENT STORE CHINA LIMITED (10 December 2015 - Hong Kong) New World Department Store China Limited ('NWDS' or the 'Company'; Hong Kong stock code: 825), one of the largest owners and operators of department stores in Mainland China, is pleased to present its second standalone sustainability report, NWDS Sustainability Report 2015 (the 'Report'), today which covers the Company's performance and achievements in the four key sustainability aspects, namely, community services, environmental protection, staff benefits and development, and operating practices in FY2015 (1 July 2014 to 30 June 2015).
To make the content of the Report better address to stakeholders' concerns, the Company once again commissioned the Hong Kong Productivity Council to conduct the 'NWDS Stakeholder Engagement Sessions' during the year under review to collect views from the media, employees from the Central Western China Region and the Northern China Region, as well as more non-profit organizations and investors through surveys and telephone interviews. The results of the exercise indicate that stakeholders attach great importance to the sustainability performance of the Company's supply chain. Therefore, the Company designed a new questionnaire for suppliers to collect their information relating to community services, environmental protection and compliance with social regulations, and subsequently made relevant disclosure in the Report. On the other hand, the Report reported the Company's sustainability performance and achievements in FY2015 in great detail. They include formulating specific and quantifiable goals for sustainable development; developing a series of guidelines on waste reduction and energy conservation with the achievement to reduce the average electricity consumption per square meter by about 15% when compared to that in the baseline year; conducting the first carbon audit at all of our stores and offices with total carbon emissions amounting to 268,075 tonnes; deepening the music and sports aspects of the '@Dream Sustainable Development Program'; title-sponsoring the 'NWDS Sowers Action Challenging 12 Hours Charity Marathon 2014' for the first time; and boosting the total number of suppliers signing the Supplier Code of Conduct by about 313% to 33. The Company believes that sustainability works require persistent and continuous improvement, thus added the chapter of 'Our Sustainability Progress and Goals' in the Report to highlight the key tasks it accomplished during the year under review and plans and goals for the next year with the purpose to demonstrate its commitment to sustainable development.
The Report continued to be prepared in accordance with the Core option of the internationally recognized Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G4 Sustainability Reporting Guidelines and the Environmental, Social and Governance Reporting Guide of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited. It was certified by third party verifier, SGS Hong Kong Limited, showing that Company's sustainability disclosures are up to world-class standards.
Ms. Rebecca Woo, Corporate Affairs Director and Chairman of Sustainable Steering Committee of NWDS, said, 'The first sustainability report published last year has helped stakeholders better understand the Company's non-business performance while helping us better understand their concerns. As a result, we can continuously review and optimize our sustainability works. We are pleased to see that with the full support from the management and the workforce, our sustainability values were incorporated into our operations in FY2015 so that nationwide carbon audit and electricity consumption reduction have been made possible, making us a the role model among our mainland peers. Looking forward, we will continue to communicate with stakeholders and optimize our sustainability works in order to better undertake corporate social responsibility. '
Please visit NWDS' website http://www.nwds.com.hk/en/csr/sustainability-report/ for the NWDS Sustainability Report 2015.
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