• Back to latest news

Real IR - Annual Report Review 2007

09 August 2007

…Annual reports are not getting any shorter but they sure are getting clearer. What’s more, companies day they are realising the business benefits.

The starting point is still a review of a cross-section of last year’s annual reports. “Peer group pressure is a major driver of change,” says Sallie Pilot, director of corporate reporting at communications agency Black Sun.

This year, many companies focused on easy wins, such as improving the way they talk about the business and how its activities are split up. “Companies hold all this information, they just need to pull it together, often from investor presentations, “says Pilot.

But are companies realising the benefits of greater transparency? This year, Black Sun conducted a survey of senior executives at UK companies to find out. One of the key findings, published in a report titled From the inside out, was greater alignment between senior management and the board.

“Many improvements in this year’s reports reflect the fact that, once firms start to increase transparency and put internal processes in place, they see greater understanding across the organization,” says Pilot...

Read the full story in the July/August edition of Real IR.

View press cutting

• Back to latest news