Annual Reports & Investor Kits
For any company, large and small, requires publishing annual reports regarding the status of the company and mailing it to the share holders and other statutory authorities. This exercise has to be done for each company because it is a statutory requirement.
This annual report contains the detailed balance sheet and profit and loss account for the company for the whole accounting year which has been audited by an external auditor. The information may look quite technical for a lay man to understand. But, for seasoned investors, who are expert in studying these reports, it gives an idea of the condition of the company at the time of the submission of the report.
The report generally contains a statement by the chairman of the company which would highlight the different objectives achieved by the company and would also give broad view about what the company would like to do in the future.
The report contains a detailed analysis regarding the current economic and political situation of the country and the world and how it is expected to influence the future operations of the company. It also gives the details about the different projects being executed by the company. It also provides a detailed sector wise description regarding the company’s operation and different plans to be executed in the future.
The annual report could be considered as a tool towards the creation of the image of the company to the outside world which includes the government, its suppliers and customers, investors and the general public.
By reading this report, the general public would be in a position to decide whether investing in the company would be a sound decision. The share holders and others who are involved with the company in any kind of business would be able to determine the security of their investments with the company.
Many companies print the annual report more like an advertising brochure. It is generally printed on glossy paper with different colored pictures, charts etc. using cutting edge typography to catch the attention of the reader. There are a number of organizations who are expert in producing annual reports on behalf of other companies. Sometimes, these slick reports are used to hide some aspects of the company operation from the public.
Therefore, a reader of such a report should give more importance to the figures published in the report rather than the statements made and try to extract the required information from the report.
