Annual Reports Keep Growing, But How Useful Is The Information?

Reports increase by 10 pages to 132 pages year on year; Just one-third of companies demonstrate up-front linkage and cohesiveness in their reports; Nearly three-quarters of companies have at least one woman on their board, but 85% of all company directors are male. Annual reports are getting longer with the average length now standing at 132 pages (2013: 122), finds new research from Deloitte.

Annual report insights 2014: Providing a clear steer found that despite the growing length and increased regulatory emphasis on producing cohesive reports, 71% of companies are not showing up-front how they link matters such as company strategy, KPIs, business model, remuneration and financial statements.

Veronica Poole, Deloitte's UK head of corporate reporting, said: "Companies have faced a lot of change in the last year with the introduction of the strategic report. We're seeing businesses including more narrative, particularly around remuneration reports. They also continue to provide voluntary disclosures where information is thought to be useful, such as net debt reconciliations and around tax governance. But, more could be done to produce clear and concise reports in order to ensure the most relevant information is presented to investors."

Deloitte's research also found that nearly half (43%) of companies applying the UK Corporate Governance Code are not fully compliant. The most common areas of non-compliance are around the independence of directors and the composition of audit committees. However, boards are...