Impact of corporate sustainability key indicators on financial performance

In order to talk about a sustainable business, non-financial information is needed in addition to financial information. The purpose of this study is to compare the impact of sustainability indicators on financial performance of the enterprises in the Borsa Istanbul (BIST) Sustainability Index (XUSRD) and the enterprises in the Global 100 Sustainability Index, where the most sustainable enterprises are ranked globally. Within the scope of the research, analyses were carried out on the data of 30 national enterprises operating in the BIST Sustainability Index between 2016-2021, excluding the finance sector, and 14 enterprises operating in the Global 100 Sustainability Index between 2016-2021, excluding the finance sector. Panel data regression method was used in the analyses. According to the results of the analyses, it is concluded that there is no significant relationship between sustainability activities and financial performance of national enterprises in the BIST Sustainability Index, but there is a significant relationship between sustainability activities and financial performance of enterprises in the Global 100 Sustainability Index. It is observed that the sustainability indicators of the enterprises in the Global 100 Sustainability Index mostly affect the return on assets (ROA) and return on equity (ROE) positively, while the Tobin's Q ratio is negatively affected.