For the sixth time we examined annual reports online of 374 listed European and US companies included in DAX, MDAX, Dow Jones, ATX, EuroStoxx 50, SMI, FTSE 100, AEX and AMX. First we distinguish 3 options for annual reports offered on the internet:
- Report solely as PDF download [2008: 31.3%]
- JPG show (image based so-called ‘dynamic’) is available: Every page of the printed report is copied 1:1 as JPG [2008: 21.4%]
- The report is implemented fully as an HTML website [2008: 47.3%]
Both, PDF and JPG, are hardly suited to the medium internet . Being in landscape format, the computer screen cannot display columned print pages in a reader-friendly manner. Also key functions of the hypertexts like linking close topics or the ability to copy and paste text is disregarded.
Changing regulations in the UK was the main driver for more user-friendly HTML implementations in 2008. The share of analysed companies rose to a new all-time high of 47.3%. Almost every second company published their annual report as a fully-fledged website.
Please refer to our market research for detailed information and results of our benchmark analysis on different countries.