Sustainability and Financial Performance in the Global Energy Sector: Evidence from ESG Scores and SDG Indicators

The paper’s objective is to examine the relationship between sustainability and financial performance for a sample of 575 listed energy companies, extracted from the LSEG database. Sustainability is captured both through ESG scores and SDGs reporting indicators. Financial performance is assessed in terms companies’ size (turnover) as well as profitability (proxied by return on common equity and operating income). To capture both direct relationships and indirect mechanisms between variables, the research method combines robust regressions, generalized structural equation modeling and Bayesian networks. The results show that the link between sustainability and performance is not uniform and suggest that the effects of sustainability on performance cannot be reduced to a single direct relationship. Firms' performance reflects the interaction between their structural characteristics, especially size, and the different components of sustainability. ESG scores appear closer to observable financial results, while SDG reporting reflects companies’ strategic orientation rather than immediate economic effects.