The usefulness and Limitations of the corporate annual report, illustrating your answer by reference to one company's most recent 'Annual Report' and 'Annual Review' Documents.
Corporate Annual reports are produced by companies every year to be filed at companies House by Law and they are sent to its shareholders in order to inform them on their success throughout the year of trading. All Corporate annual reports have similar structures and they consist of both non-statutory items which are the informational parts of the report and the statutory items which give some insight into the financial matters of the company. The report proposes to provide information that is useful in making economic decisions; it also assesses the companies' performance and outlook into future prospects. However, a corporate annual Report can be both useful and can have its limitations. I will now discuss the usefulness and limitations that exist for the Corporate Annual Report with reference to the 'Woolworths Group Plc' recent Annual Report and Review.
In regards to the Usefulness of Corporate Annual Reports it can be said that it does provide shareholders and other potential stakeholders with a comprehensive assessment on the companies' current position. For example the development of regulation has given some insight on how useful the corporate report can be from the beginning of Stewardship to this very day there have been constant rules put in place in order to ensure the stakeholders are provided with relevant information. Therefore these rules have given the report some value into what the company has to provide its shareholders and for potential shareholders and making it useful for this purpose.
Another possible reason in which a Corporate annual report can be seen as useful is because ratio analysis can be conducted from the report by using the various financial information given such as the, Profit and Loss account and Balance sheet. (This is shown on pages 27-28 in the Woolworths Group plc annual report in the appendix). Calculations can be made on these particular activities for example profitability ratios can be used such as Return on Capital
In regards to the Usefulness of Corporate Annual Reports it can be said that it does provide shareholders and other potential stakeholders with a comprehensive assessment on the companies' current position. For example the development of regulation has given some insight on how useful the corporate report can be from the beginning of Stewardship to this very day there have been constant rules put in place in order to ensure the stakeholders are provided with relevant information. Therefore these rules have given the report some value into what the company has to provide its shareholders and for potential shareholders and making it useful for this purpose.
Another possible reason in which a Corporate annual report can be seen as useful is because ratio analysis can be conducted from the report by using the various financial information given such as the, Profit and Loss account and Balance sheet. (This is shown on pages 27-28 in the Woolworths Group plc annual report in the appendix). Calculations can be made on these particular activities for example profitability ratios can be used such as Return on Capital