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News Release from: dsicmm | Subject: Printed annual reports
Edited by the Printingtalk Editorial
Team on 13 March 2007
Survey Shows Printed Annual Report Still
Important
An investigation by Corporate Mailing Matters (CMM) Group has found that no substantial swing towards delivering annual reports electronically is going to take place.
An investigation by Corporate Mailing Matters (CMM) Group in to the likely future for corporate financial reports , has found that no substantial swing towards delivering annual reports electronically is going to take place until the 2008 reporting season Even then, the proportion of printed to electronic reporting is expected to be 72 per cent print, compared to 28 per cent electronic publishing
This article was originally published on Printingtalk on 13 Mar 2007 at 8.00am (UK)
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However, respondents indicated that little change from print and mail communication of annual reports was expected for companies with a financial year ends up to April and May 2007.
Overall, though, by the end of 2007 and in to the 2008 reporting season, the ratio of electronic distribution of annual and interim reports was expected to be 72 per cent print and 28 per cent electronic, said CMM.
Broadly it was felt by respondents to the CMM survey that any appreciable swing towards electronic publishing and distribution was only going to be felt from the 2008 reporting season onwards, with anecdotal evidence pointing towards many investment personnel and individual shareholders wanting both hard copy and electronic versions.
Respondents to the CMM survey noted a number of key obstacles that stood in the way of large scale electronic reporting.
First was the need to capture and maintain a database of shareholder emails addresses.
Second was the fact that only 57 per cent of the population have a home internet connection, with possible implications about the ability to reach retail investors by email.
There was also the dominant opinion amongst institutional investors that they required both printed and electronic versions of all key reports, implying that electronic reporting may grow substantially but not necessarily replacing printed communications.
The Governmen's provisions were previously scheduled to come in to effect with the main parts of the Companies Bill towards the end of 2008.
However, as a concession to the unexpected requirement on companies to include information on their supply chain within their business reviews, the Government brought the ability to report electronically to shareholders forward to January 2007.
Yolanda Noble, chief executive of Corporate Mailing Matters, commented: "The majority sentiment regarding electronic financial reports distribution is that for the next one and-a-half to two years at least, things will change very little and electronic reports will be regarded as a complementary distribution medium.
From 2008-2009 onwards, investor relations directors in particular suggest that this will change significantly, with electronic reporting representing over a quarter of all activity.
However, printed reports will remain in the majority for some time to come, especially as they become used more and more as key marketing documents." She added that response also suggests some companies feel that interim reports will be delivered electronically sooner than full annual reports, which people still prefer in hard copy format.
Nevertheless, it seems that corporations with a large retail shareholder base, such as private investors, will tend to prefer printed copies of annual and interim reports.
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