Company A look
ABB Puts it in drawings but doesn't confirm enough in writing (especially about operations).
Acer An Acer-made laptop is way thicker than this report, in which major sections are each a few pages long.
Adecco Matching up to reporting expectations better than in the past, despite lower performance and some weaker points. The tennis champion pictured on the cover has a point (p 56).
Agrium Outstanding review of business, quarterly developments, growth conditions. Risk analysis told from soup to nuts (including about forward-looking statements and derivatives).
Air France-KLM Seven questions raised by the crisis (pp 10 ff.) are asked by members of the Consultative Committee for Individual Shareholders. The whole report answers straightforwardly.
Air Liquide The shareholder's guide booklet that is sent along is a rare example of an inviting communication to existing shareholders, based on hard facts (long-term investment value) but telling it with nice pictorial touches.
Akademiska Hus Sweden's second largest -and government-controlled- property owner comes up with rock-solid and highly strategic annuals (check out financial position and competitive analysis).
AkzoNobel Strongly coated, with key performance indicators and segment development functionally summed up in the inside front cover.
Alcoa No longer a well-engineered report, just a flat-rolled 10-K preceded by two messages.
Anglo American The review of operations is strong. Performance against KPIs is fairly analyzed, but economic KPIs are far from clearest (and why sending investors to the... remuneration report to know about TSR?).
Areva It takes as long as the nuclear cycle to publish annual results. And these are heavier than atomic mass (460 pages), yet the business review is solid.
Associated British Foods Visual foodstuffs and textual substance make up a worthwhile business report. But the financial review is on a diet.
Astellas Pharma A tick-off list helps getting CEO's viewpoints on questions such as breakthrough drugs or regulatory hurdles. The Ethical Pharmaceuticals Market is charted at a glance.
Audi Think bigger? Format and weight more of a Q7 than of the A1, yet the 250-page book is smartly dressed-up.
Autoliv A compact reporting vehicle, functionally designed but stressing the importance of technology and safety.
Avery Dennison Stands among those rare U.S. MD&As providing an explicit analysis of ratios.
BAE Systems Security check: the annual report website visitor is forced to accept a cautionary statement. Editorial check: why are chairman and chief executive headlines virtually the same?
Barrick An MD&A not made by gold bricks: see e.g. the Review of Significant Income and Expenses, Non-cash Working Capital, Sources and Uses of Net Debt, the Summary of Financial Instruments, Valuation Allowances, etc.
Baxter A conversation-threaded review of operations, starting with a talk with the CEO.
Bayer Value Management Indicators by Subgroup (p 77) comprise Gross cash flow (and hurdle), Cash value added, Cash flow return on investment, Average capital invested.
BD (Becton Dickinson) An online report that is neither an optical nor a precision instrument.
Bekaert A report advertised as exclusively online. Fine, but the (good) overview of businesses makes a better read when printed, and key figures are much too short online and come really too late in print (p 118).
BG KPIs, really? These do not include any fundamental financial indicator (see pp 4-5). The later charted total operating profit (p 12) doesn't fully compensate.
Bharat Petroleum Stimulating Growth? Maybe, but this doesn't make a stimulating read.
BHP Billiton Not effectively built for online reading, because of the information overload, the structure, layout and navigation conditions.
Boeing After the take-off, just another low-altitude 10-K.
Boliden As solid as metal, as substantial as minerals: business areas, market trends, growth conditions are made easy to dig for. Note also the listing of boards like chemical elements.
BP Highlights could be... replaced with more comprehensible figures. But board performance and committees' job may still be certified as best practice.
Bridgestone Deflated? The Operational Review (including message, strategic and governance matters) is 20 pages long. For the rest...
British American Tobacco KPIs are clearly defined and assessed. But are we sure that the Responsibility business measures that follow (p 11) include core responsibility matters?
BT Understanding annual reports is a section on the investor website. Most of that short screen consists of -(un)audited?- tautologies.
Burberry Highlights are a bit sketchy, KPIs skimpy, web ingredients not that trendy, but an okay is deserved for strategy (reporting).
Burger King One thing is sure, the online Annual Review is not fat. As to Food Responsibility, the company offers more than 350 unique meal combinations with 650 calories or less.
Campbell Soup Shareowner Information on the website mainly consists of an address book without IR e-mail. The report is just another canned 10-K.
Canadian Natural Resources Capital Discipline illustrated with Debt to Book Capital charted and explained (p 5).
Carlsberg A beer weather indicator is set below the Investor dashboard on the IR homepage. The CEO creates a good sphere by drinking a glass. Supervisors run on water.
Carrefour More than six months after the fiscal year the latest annual report was not available yet.
Cascades To understand our results show what is driving the financial performance and sums up the impact in an early-placed Sensitivity table.
Cisco Systems An expansive 224-page CSR report, that does it clean (e.g. on value chain, waste stream, water supplies, fitness...). The core annual lags far behind in content and communication.
CNOOC Not a kcnoockout. Short on reporting material on many matters, not least in the Operations Review and a slim MD&A.
Coca-Cola High-calorie Annual Review yet not that refreshingly different from the past ones. For financials, don't enjoy the tasteless unreformulated 10-K.
Colgate-Palmolive Twenty pages of soap-opera advertorial, and then not a pet 10-K.
Compass A visual thread that alternates black-and-white and full-color photos serves business and responsibility finely.
ConAgra Foods If we can give you something that tastes good, that is good (report introduction). This does not apply to tasteless and indigestible financials.
Consol Energy No consolation, just another raw 10-K. Switch off.
Continental Heavy going and tiring. And why is the board pictured near a football pitch?
Daiichi Sankyo Strategic Moves finely mapped for the recently merged company: watch Three Years Young achievements (p 1) and Vision for 2015 (pp 2-3).
Daimler Interesting developments on The Road To Emission-free Mobility, in a gross book packed à la Daimler, i.e. not that... mobile.
Danisco A product/competitor matrix helps map company's market positions (p 25).
Deutsche Post DHL Key figures and target comparisons stand among the strong points of the online version. The printout is a hefty but substantial parcel, finely charted too (mind trucking gender distribution (p 74), though).
Deutsche Telekom Are the special factors so special when they affect so many income statement items and repeat themselves over two years? (see p 72). And mind the footnotes, too.
Diageo The mix (theme) is a heady brew dealt both soberly and effectively. But some ingredients are still too light.
DIMO (Diesel & Motor Engineering) Besides praising the importance of introspection (p 19), a well-tuned reporting instrument, engineered with excellent charts (see e.g. Inventories & Trade Debtors vs Turnover, Interest on p 53).
Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Company's DNA is used for highlight charts and as a visual thread. And the 25 years' history is made very lively.
Duke Energy Q on the front cover: What is simple about providing affordable, reliable and clean energy? A on p 1: Not much!
DuPont Low report chemistry: the Annual Review is only six pages long, the financials are another raw 10-K, the Data Book is just a bit better packaged.
E.On Ach, reorganization! The 10th anniversary celebration is subdued. Innen? Investors have lent us over €27 billion since 2007. Naturally, they want to know how we're doing (p 39). Do they get acceptable answers? Mmm, check inside.
EDF Sidebars with question marks enlighten along the review of businesses.
Electrolux A commented compared two-year share price graph (pp 60-61) stands among the many reporting pluses that make it an investor durable, packed in a refined way.
Emerson Not electrifying. Well, at least the financial review departs from the unreadable 10-K routine.
EnCana When it comes to reporting, this one is talking the business talk and walking the financial walk (as p 27 goes). Has a strong natural drive but also some shortcomings (not least on strategy and CSR).
Energizer At less than 50 pages it's focused but not really energizing.
Entergy A fine way to play with (report) cards. But the trump card would have been to come up with clearer financials.
Epson (Seiko Epson) Report only available online. Why then not making any effort to make it enjoyable too?
Ericsson An elegant -and not that frequent- way to hand over the baton: the former and incoming CEOs sign their statements next to each other. But why pushing highly strategic content so late?
Estée Lauder Key Packaging Achievements are summed up (p 76). But the business report shows more style than substance.
ExxonMobil A Summary Annual Report that does its job: concise (in length, not in MB), looking back and forward, illustrated, charted, richly fueled with facts and figures.
Fedex Annuals that don't transport the reader to another level, despite a lively but way too quick pictorial introduction.
Fiat A truckload lacking in a real drive (far-fetched quotes don't make up): 370 pages, of which two thirds of notes, not optimally structured.
Finnair An original annual review named Logbook that makes up an interesting and pleasant reading trip.
Forest Laboratories Reading that dreary book would make a depressing experience. Fortunately, it is only 50-odd pages long.
Fortum Investing in the future chapter describes planned investments and their impact on power generation capacity within the European energy context.
Foster's Transforming Foster's, states the cover. This doesn't seem to apply to an online report that is not a pop-up.
Fujitsu Year's disappointing performance is commented and put in perspective with the global strategy and its execution, also in a Conversation with the President.
General Electric The company has changed (but where's the summary of businesses?), the report hasn't that much, even online. Time to reimagine, reinvest and renew.
General Mills Not a run-of-the-mill 10-K and working averagely in general terms.
General Motors Re-invention? Take a look at the new GM, states the website. For those who can get to the annual report, no reinvention of the wheel –but does anyone remember a good GM report?
GSK (GlaxoSmithKline) For the lively part, watch and listen to the online case studies (too much talk). For the in-depth analysis, the report, though informative, looks as a substitute for sleeping pills.
H.J. Heinz A multi-year spreadsheet showing key Heinz financial highlights is downloadable. These are ratioless and unpalatable, as the report is.
Heidelberg Assets, equity and liabilities, and Development of net working capital finely charted (pp 63-65). But the heavy book needs a press.
Hindalco Industries The chairman's letter begins on the front cover.
Hitachi Metals Operating income, net income and ROE compared over ten years in a chart below historical data (p 45). A good introduction to a medium-term driven financial review.
Holcim Strength. Performance. Passion, states the cover. The report doesn't perform strongly and passionately.
Honda Motor Dream cars? For some, maybe. But the report lacks creative engineering. Commitment to responsibility is demonstrated through four extra books, including one about Safety.
IBM Big Blue's reporting heyday is long gone, but financial analysis does a good job, not least through links to the notes in the PDF version.
Infineon Technologies One of those rare reports highlighting -and naming- company's key customers and major competitors.
Infosys Technologies Very analytical financial and operating review, including a comprehensive ratio overview. But the design is dull.
Invensys Read the small print after -or before- looking at the highlights, which incidentally (so to say) also exclude major result aspects.
IOI Performance indicators are planted squarely in a book that cuts a bit of wood (260 pages).
Itochu Not lacking in substance and supported with many charts. Still, the growth model is not easiest to decipher.
J Sainsbury The online Illustrated Review provides a pleasant fact-shopping experience. But the number-crunchers must look elsewhere for some meat.
Japan Tobacco Twenty-plus pages of Fact Sheets setting forth statistics over the last ten years, from profit and returns to markets, market shares and sales volumes.
Johnson Matthey Financial highlights are not golden but the business review is fine.
Kao Environmental impact of business operations input and output mapped in a diagram and measured (CSR Report, p 42).
Kellogg The package looks promising but the content rapidly turns into another churned-out 10-K. Sustainability is made more digestible online.
Kemira Holds water. Washed out (read clean), story-telling, and worth more than a 30-second reading drop.
Kimberly-Clark What's the difference between a 10-K on paper and one online? The latter is as insipid but doesn't have to be pulped.
Kodak (Eastman) Don't name this an interactive annual report, it's just a passive 260-page 10-K.
Konica Minolta Supporting a Recycling-Oriented Society is among the many issues covered in a solid responsibility book.
KPN Not really a calling card, poorly illustrated and more manufactured than effectively designed. But highlights and remuneration have a ring of transparency.
Land Securities A well-built report, based on strong foundations and including some (land)marks to find your way.
Lanxess Portfolio management and divestments pinned (p 21).
Lenovo Not new (report) thinking. Not exceptionally engineered. Neither most passionate nor much creative, yet computing ahead of a number of peers (e.g. for governance).
Lilly (Eli Lilly) Reinventing Invention is the title. Why has the company not reinvented its reporting format after a decade of doing the same?
Linde Makes out a strong, well-illustrated and intelligble case for capturing the special value of gases.
Loblaw For a retail business report the financial part looks wholesale.
Lufthansa More stable results thanks to the different cycles of Lufthansa's business segments (p 21) is one of the charts illustrating the financial strategy in a substantial book not made as light as an aerogram.
M&S (Marks and Spencer) Style may be defined as conventional (even on p 24). But the 125 years are finely celebrated and illustrated throughout the book, governance included (see e.g. the expected value of future remuneration package on p 64).
Medtronic Innovative Therapies to address the World's Most Pressing Chronic Diseases are embodied.
Merck You're invited to view highlights online. Why not providing a magnifying glass for the footnotes, which occupy more space than the figures? Be well, this is also about building shareholder value...
Merck KGaA On-screen Merkblatt: annual report key points link rapidly to items, the point-and-click chart generator is practical, and the download menu is fine. The report itself is more conventional.
Microsoft The Redmond giant has never been capable of producing a good annual report. The latest one is no exception, even the online read-only verrsion is basic.
Mitsubishi No Matter How the World Is Changing. We're Always There is the very confident message. Though complex (due to diversity), it is substantiated inside, also in a developed President's message.
Monsanto Starts with Commitment, states the report. Commitment not extended to making a banal 10-K readable. Remember the company's annuals a decade ago?
M-Real Capital management, interest rate trends, currency exposure clearly put as components of risk management issues.
National Grid Adjusted figures, continuing operations, add-back, stranded cost recoveries, constant currency... short-circuit results analysis.
Neste Oil Financial responsibility and how the company is generating financial added value for stakeholders put plainly (pp 32-33).
Nexen How to refine the raw data-based 10-K MD&A et al., stick to its format, and at the same time make it comprehensible for downstream reader/investor use? An answer is here.
Nippon Mining No miner needed to dig up changes in financial position and in cash flows. The CFO explains it for you (on p 50).
Nippon Steel Steelmaking Flow mapped out (p 24).
Nobel Biocare Not everyone would give eye teeth to read a rather long and clinical book. But Solutions for all indications (pp 38 ff.) are not all mouth.
Nokia Dull and uncommunicative. And what's the guy with vinyls doing on the front cover?
Norske Skog Continued focus on debt reduction is stressed on paper (p 9), even before shareholder policy.
NTT A Q&A with the president is strongly backed by charts.
Oman Air In-flight cuisine may be cordon bleu (see p 31), but financial analysis and governance skim the surface.
Omron Business Segments and Key Products finely mapped, then lively reviewed. Penetrating questions -and answers- in the four special Feature sections.
Panasonic A financial review that is not as sound as the business report.
PaperlinX The company could save some paper by producing one single report instead of partly duplicating in a Review.
Peabody Energy What's in a name? Why reducing it to a stock symbol? What's in a report? Forty pages made of advertorials and then just financials as usual.
Pernod Ricard Sparkling review of the fifteen brands. But the Reference Document gets a bit heavy.
Pfizer Lively and vivid Annual Review. Why not applying the recipe to make financials more flowing?
Pioneer Is it due to big losses in a challenging business environment (p 2)? The report is short (50 pages) and short on most components.
Pirelli Inflated -300 pages long- and tiresome –dully laid out in one column of mostly administrative language.
Procter & Gamble A household name that keeps on branding strong and reporting clean –but with no real surprise.
Publicis Buzzwords, website gimmickry, rap-style year highlights. Where to find the real reports about the real things? Let us hope this is not contagious.
Puma No big game. Short in volume and on content.
Qualcomm Another com company that doesn't apply communication to financials: it takes some time to get them, and in a basic form.
Rapala The lure of fishing (products) is nicely illustrated. Financial commentary is a different kettle of fish.
Reliance Industries Crudely drawn and a boring read.
Rexam Not really packaged to make it a consuming read.
Rezidor Hotel Doesn't conceal the difficult year in tough times -there are highlights and lowlights, for example- and turns the challenges into a compelling read.
Ricoh A commendable effort to integrate sustainability within business. If only diagrams could be less complicated and design less amateurish.
RIM (Research In Motion) The maker of BlackBerry makes a report that won't ring in many heads.
Roche A Roche-solid review of businesses, applications, product launches, pipeline, put in words and backed with explanatory diagrams.
Rockwool With 48 pages this clearly lacks reporting bricks and mortar.
Rogers Communications Changes in Fixed Versus Floating Debt Composition (p 49) stand among the plus points of a substantial MD&A.
Rolls-Royce Partial KPIs (pp 19 ff.): revenue is underlying only, profit too and before financing, and social responsibility are either not compared or reported elsewhere.
Royal Dutch Shell Upstream (i.e. contentwise), it’s fine. But downstream the allocation of reporting documents (over 350 pages in six books) is a real problem.
Saint-Gobain Businesses and products, main applications, main competitors and market positions set forth for all product categories in a well-constructed report built upon the legal format yet not being a prisoner in it.
SAP Slow process: it takes 68 pages (out of 264) to know what business the company does.
Sappi Makes a good use of paper. Especially, yet not only, with its thorough review of business and sustainability performance against targets. Clips and highlighter help investors getting a transparent picture, too.
Sara Lee Financial review is substantial and a bit more digestible than in a 10-K form. But mind the footnotes.
Sasol Among sound financial reporting features: cash fixed costs variance, cost of debt spread, ten-year KPIs, chart-backed notes to statements. More smartly constructed than designed, though.
Schindler Is that elevating? A chairman message that attacks experts, suffocating (sic) corporate governance rules and... reporting standards.
Sharp Sharp? Short, especially but not only on financials.
Siemens Target ranges and their fulfillment set for all business areas (p 54) in a well-formulated MD&A but in a document as heavy as the group still is.
SKF An investor web homepage built for not losing your bearings. The report download a bit less turbocharged but engineered to carry rich business and operating information.
Smith & Nephew London-based, UK-listed, accounts in accordance with UK and U.S. requirements and presented in US dollars, highlighting a mix of (non-)GAAP, IFRS and underlying measures. Get the drift to grasp actual performance?
Sodexo When online (only) is off base: first service impression is good, but the serving is heavy (500 pages fort the five core reports) and not really designed for on-screen or printing use. In short: good content (e.g. on responsibility) not well served.
Sony Increasingly Americanized -and SECish- in style and substance -and not for the better.
Speedy Hire Tackling the crisis and tough questions in tough times (p 4) frankly, and looking to some tools needed to improve the situation. But the business is not made very... material.
STMicroelectronics A 430-page 20-F. Who wants to read that?
Straumann Say cheese! The pictorials tell a different story (the report title) with touches of Swiss humor –sort of.
Sumitomo What are Risk-adjusted Assets? Answer in a text box (p 16).
Suzlon Energy It goes like the wind to see what the core business is all about. But the package is not that light.
Syngenta The slide towards "opinion-based" regulation is a real threat to ... progress... The indulgence of imaginary fears... harms growth. Worse, it is a betrayal of the hungry (Chairman's letter). So the company is right and opinion not?
Takeda Pharmaceutical Company's core therapeutic areas are scaled with Unmet Patient Needs and compared contribution from pharmaceutical products (p 14) in a combined responsibility and business book.
Tata Consultancy Agility in a Dynamic Environment, states the front cover. The report proves neither agile nor dynamic.
Tate & Lyle What we do chapter made of well-structured ingredients, from sourcing to value creation to going to market.
TDC Neither the length nor the layout make it closer to the reader. But risk management lies among a few plus points.
Teijin Technology-driven product development pipelines mapped through years 2010 to 2020 (p 49).
Telekom Austria Plays humorously with weather conditions, but a cover stating that We are prepared for anything might be called into question. Nevertheless, shareholders should appreciate the dividend promise until 2012.
TeliaSonera Markets and Brands displayed on p 6: the table shows the number of subscriptions, market positions, main competitors.
Telstra Layout not much more inspired than a telephone book.
Tesco The group's Steering Wheel is mapped. And the analyst may shop online for charts and extracts.
ThyssenKrupp Steel yourself for a long read: a bit less than 300 pages with a lot of blanks). Material -e.g. with a substantial Outlook section- but not really giving a lift.
Time Warner The media group has never taken the time to produce a decent report for at least a decade. Further than the cover and the message, another boring 10-K. And to make it worse, going online doesn't help.
TNT In case you were asleep in front of your screen, the CEO himself knocked on the window to invite you to look at the online annuals when they were released. The contents show well-achieved integration of sustainability policies.
Tomkins What is it? How do we use it? Link to our strategy. These three questions are clearly answered for a dozen well-chosen Key Performance Measures (pp 12-13). Further explanations to these on pp 151 ff.
Total The reader has to dig deep into the five documents (of which the official report is 320 pages long), but the design of the Perspectives and At a Glance books shows maximized read appeal.
Toyota Motor Saying that it goes The Right Way Forward (report's title and theme) for IR website navigation would be much exaggerated.
Trelleborg Risk management, exposure, policies and processes made most intelligible.
Tyco Electronics The corporate website is not electric. The report is hardly a connectivity product. Reassuringly, integrity now stands among core values.
UCB A report that skillfully draws a patient-centric thread, and gives a vivid account of research and results.
Umicore The company has set five Environmental Objectives and five Social Objectives. Those are among the features of a good example of combined reporting, yet economics,(very) Belgian politics and photography are not up.
United Technologies Introduction (p 1) and Commitments (p 5) are a compilation of business clichés and buzzwords.
USG People Not most remarkable. Results were disappointing, is it a reason for chopping the report up into small and not always most legible pieces?
Vale No ironwork: the web path to the report is just a bit quicker than the report read itself, based on a strictly compliant 20-F.
Vattenfall All ratios -and there are many- are explained and calculated for the reader (pp 134-135). Besides, probably stands as the best on sustainability in its sector.
Vestas Wind Systems Non-financial highlights are as comprehensive as the financial ones, no hot air, that is.
Vodafone Though not optimally structured and not clearest, KPIs are summed up in a snapshot (p 24). It doesn’t overlook supply-chain strategy either.
Volkswagen Significantly, the hefty 300-page book begins with the supervisory board's report to remind us who is the driving force behind. Then follow well-substantiated Driving Ideas and solid performance analysis..
Walt Disney Mickey on the first page is the only animated figure in the 10-K silent movie. The online review doesn't make up.
Wärtsilä All-electronic report (no printed version available) that delivers on content (e.g. risk management and market environment) and is rather easy to navigate (yet not fully optimized, e.g. for tables).
Wessanen Really tasteless and laid out as hundreds of... British (not Oranje) annuals made in the nineties.
Weyerhaeuser Half-timbered 10-K built within the legal framework but filled and arranged to be more understandable (also applied to the notes).
Wolford A ready-to-wear cover without any appeal. There are some figures inside but the story hasn't real... legs.
Wolseley Business model and drivers, strategy and risks made clearest, in spite -or because?- of challenging market conditions.
Woolworths The comprehensive remuneration report is... not down under.
Xerox Smooth handover of power from the departing chairperson, who signs off a honest message jointly with the incoming one.
Xstrata 2009 highlights in words on p 2: Xstrata delivered a robust operating and financial performance. Turn to p 3 for figures: revenue, operating and attributable profit, cash were all going down, sometimes sharply.
Yamaha The sound is OK (e.g. in a well-tuned business overview), yet the rhythm is a bit out of sync.
Yell The year overview is as sound as a bell, but not many will yell at the financial analysis.
Zimmer Innovation throughout the human musculoskeletal system (p 3) embodies areas addressed by the company. Financial reporting is less innovative.