{
  "id": 9033371,
  "title": "Why the best annual report is one that helps investors understand the company better",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/21/why-the-best-annual-report-is-one-that-helps-investors-understand-the",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-09-21T23:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Business Times - Companies & Markets",
    "slug": "the-business-times-companies-markets",
    "url": "https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/why-best-annual-report-one-helps-investors-understand-company-better"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "As investor expectations and reporting requirements evolve, the focus of annual reports is shifting from simply disclosing information to providing useful insights that help investors understand a company's future prospects. The Singapore Corporate Awards (SCA) have long recognized companies that go beyond basic disclosure to clearly communicate their performance and strategic direction to investors and other stakeholders.\n\nIn today's more complex reporting landscape, simply providing more information is insufficient. The next stage of annual reporting is about moving from quantity to quality, from mere disclosure to providing explanations, evidence of performance, and connections between financial and non-financial data. Numbers alone rarely tell the full story. Investors need to understand the drivers behind earnings, the sustainability of margins, capital allocation decisions, and how current performance relates to long-term strategy.\n\nWhile financial statements remain crucial, investors increasingly seek forward-looking information to assess management's decisions and trade-offs. This includes strategic priorities, emerging industry trends, planned investments, capital allocation considerations, and the assumptions underlying management's direction. Rather than just listing risks, annual reports should clearly explain which risks matter most, how they are evaluated, potential triggers, and how management is addressing them.\n\nBusiness continuity planning, given recent disruptions, is an area that often lacks sufficient discussion. Similarly, environmental and social accountability is becoming more prominent. While frameworks like ISSB, GRI, SASB, or TCFD provide useful structures, they alone do not make a report informative. Investors need clear, quantitative and qualitative disclosures on material climate and social issues, along with targets, progress, and implications for the business.\n\nHigh-performing companies excel in connecting financial and non-financial performance, clearly articulating strategy, and linking financial and non-financial data. In the SCA's Big Cap category, Singtel stood out with strong reports in business plans, prospects, corporate governance, performance review, risk assessment and management, and overall presentation. Singtel's five-year financial summary is complemented by detailed analysis of key business segments, providing investors with a clear understanding of performance drivers. Its sustainability reporting also demonstrates maturity, combining multiple frameworks, external assurance, targets, and measurable progress across environmental, social, and governance areas.\n\nMid-cap companies like Singapore Post also present strong annual reports, integrating transformation strategies with comprehensive financial and ESG disclosures. However, disclosure consistency remains less robust compared to large-cap companies, and mid-cap firms should focus on deepening the link between past performance, strategic priorities, and future direction.\n\nWhile larger companies generally provide clearer strategic visions through their annual reports, smaller firms should strive to explain their business clearly and offer information proportionate to their circumstances. For first-year listed companies, a solid foundation with clear strategy, financial analysis, and high-quality ESG disclosures can establish credibility. Ultimately, regardless of company size, the goal of annual reporting is to provide investors with clear, decision-useful insights into the company's operations, prospects, and strategic priorities.",
  "summary": "The next stage of annual reporting is about quality, explanation and evidence of performance",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}