Annual Reports Handy Hints for Assignment 2: Comparative Critique of Annual Reports
For additional information, refer to Sue’s posting on the discussion board, 30 Sep 2009.
The overall aim of the exercise: Every Australian public company is obliged by law to publish an Annual Report. These reports are subject to Corporations Law, a variety of regulations monitored by the ASIC, and listing rules imposed by the ASX; those factors should — one might think — lead to a great deal of uniformity in these reports. Yet we see some dramatic differences, as well as a number of similarities. The point is not merely to identify the similarities and differences, but to account for them: not only to answer the question “What are the reports like?”, but also to answer the more illuminating question “Why are they like that?”
Focus on purpose, message, and audience: Pause to reflect on the fundamental purposes of a company’s annual report. What audiences might be targeted, and for what reasons?
Questions of format: Reports are “published” as PDFs. This is a “controlled” format; the appearance of a web page is partly beyond the control of the company. The original www.szdhsjt.com version of every report was printed; the online versions are provided only for convenience.
Making a comparison: The various pairings of reports were chosen to represent one of two situations: a single company has changed its market position recently (or the market itself has changed), and has experienced some problems in the process; or two companies are in overlapping markets, and one is not doing as well as the other. So you should be able to spot and account for a number of similarities and differences in the reports.
Overall treatment
As always, we are looking above all for an appreciation of the business objectives. What are the reports trying to accomplish?
The aim is not to present any kind of analysis of the company itself, or the financial details disclosed in the reports. (You do have to consider the company’s financial condition, since the report has to disclose this, and the directors will probably want an appropriate spin to be added. You should also consider the way the financial details are presented.) The aim is to identify in some detail what the report is doing, and why.
Again as always, clarity is vital. Marks will be deducted for unclear or ungrammatical writing.
Page 1
BBA 216 Assignment Two Comparative Review
Due: 5pm, Tuesday October 13
TOPIC: Write a critical comparative review of two company annual reports published online.
Different sets of reports have been selected for each tutorial class. The list is on page 2.
IMPORTANT: Please note that in each case the report you critique should be what is usually
called the concise annual report, and NOT the full financials. In those cases where the online |
