With current economic uncertainty and the growing demand for increased disclosure and transparency making the annual reporting process more difficult than ever before, many companies are asking is it all worth it. Encouragingly the results of a recent survey of institutional investors by Black Sun, the corporate reporting experts, say yes - companies are getting a return on their investment when it comes to quality reporting.

Overall, the survey found that 88% of respondents identified the Annual Report as the most credible reporting tool in assisting them to make better investment decisions. An overwhelming 89% also agreed that the annual reports that contained greater insights into a company’s business strategy and action plans aided this process.

The survey goes on to reaffirm that in today’s volatile market investors want to communicate more with management. A staggering 90% of sell-side and buy-side investors stated that in this current economic climate, increased transparency and disclosure has a positive impact on their confidence in a company. Unsurprisingly however, risk is still a key area for improvement with only 49% of investors believing companies are providing greater insight into their key risks in their annual reports.

But toeing the line to just meet legislative requirements is not enough, 91% of respondents felt that providing clear links between a company’s strategy and the objectives and targets of a company builds investor confidence in a company’s sustainable value.

And in terms of an Annual Report’s longevity, over 70% of analysts surveyed review companies’ annual reports, analyst presentations and corporate websites at least quarterly and 50% reviewed them on a weekly or monthly basis. This puts the Annual Report as the most critical communications tool a company has to offer.

Black Sun CEO, David Christopherson comments, “The results of this survey show the importance of the role the annual report plays in today’s challenging markets and that those companies who provide quality disclosure and communications can preserve investor confidence”.

Black Sun plc is an award winning international corporate reporting consultancy and communications agency.

It has a unique research and insight driven approach which enables them to bridge the gap between the legal and regulatory aspects of corporate reporting and the content and creative elements of communication. 
Black Sun plc delivers ‘integrated reporting solutions’ that encompass a powerful combination of best practice advice on strategy, creative, and multi-channel delivery, through annual reports, CSR reports, online reports, investor presentations and corporate websites.

Clients include: BAE Systems, BG Group, Burberry, Carlsberg, DTZ Holdings, Kazakhmys, Standard Chartered Bank and Tullow Oil

Recent awards include:  

BG Group 2008: Thomson Reuters Award for, “Best Annual Report for Investors”

Legal & General 2008: UK IR Society Award for, “Best practice communications print and online”

NMLK: 2008 Expert RA for, "Best Annual Report" (Russia) and 2008 Securities Market Journal for, "Best level of information disclosure" in Annual Reports (Russia)

Tullow Oil: 2008 UK IR Society for, “Most improved Annual Reports”