Annual ‘Interesting’ Report
Posted on November 8, 2007 by Richard Beddard
Filed Under Ramblings |
Annual reports are the Steve Davis of investing. Ignore them, and you might end up snookered.
Today I’m posting links to some annual reports, recently published. Why? Because annual reports are the authoritative source of financial information for companies, and it makes most sense to read them while they’re still fresh.
I look at annual reports for ideas, to write about, or to invest in. There are other ways of course, like news and tips, but often that’s second-hand information, or limited to the companies, products and services you know well.
If you value originality, you have to get as close as you can to the source, and look at the companies other investors aren’t looking at.
This list isn’t a comprehensive list of annual reports published in the last week or so. Some companies take a while to update their websites, and I’ve only included reports I can link to. I’ve also left out totally uninteresting companies - the kind of company that floats around in the gloomiest depths of the FTSE or AIM with a normal market size, expressed in terms of money, of about £125.
It’s a by-product of searching for interesting companies to write about, and interesting companies to invest in, so I hope to make this a regular feature of the blog. But, if you prize originality, or you are looking for inspiration, you might find it here too.
- Air Partner (air charter)
- Connaught (property services)
- Cyril Sweett (construction and property consultancy)
- Debenhams (department store)
- EBTM (online fashion retailer)
- Group NBT (internet, domain names)
- James Halstead (flooring)
- NXT (flat panel speakers)
- Powerleague (5-a-side football centres)
- Regent Inns (pubs, restaurants and live entertainment)
- Siteserv (construction site services)
- Tenon (small business consulting)
- William Sinclair (horticulture, aggregates)
Powerleague and Air Partner come with established growth stories. Regent Inns is trying to diversify and turn itself around, and it’s interesting to see how far Debenhams’ price has fallen since its blood-sucking private equity backers withdrew their fangs last year (for the avoidance of doubt, that may not be an altogether accurate description of private equity’s role in Debenhams’ recent history, but I like it). Perhaps value investors are taking notice. Income investors must be.
At first glance, EBTM, which stands for Everything But The Music, is copying ASOS’ retail format. ASOS stands for As Seen On Screen and it sells celebrity-inspired fashions on the Internet. EBTM sells music-inspired merchandise on its website.
Since ASOS is rewarding shareholders handsomely, as chronicled yesterday in our new TV Show, iBall, we can dream, perhaps, about getting in early at EBTM. Or we can spend a little more time in the company of its annual report.
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