Award partner: Hill+Knowlton Strategies
Award presented by Gabriel Tan, head of financial communications, Greater China, Hill+Knowlton Strategies
Acceptance speech from Emily Lau, general manager, investor relations, Pacific Basin Shipping
Winner interview with Emily Lau, general manager, investor relations, Pacific Basin Shipping
Partner interview with Gabriel Tan, head of financial communications, Greater China, Hill+Knowlton Strategies
Annual reports have come a long way since the first corporate report was published by US Steel in 1903 and certified by Price Waterhouse & Co (now PwC). Today, an annual report is the chance for a company – big or small – to make a bold statement about its brand and engage with a number of different stakeholders. The reports offer genuine insights into a company at its highest level, describing the business with thorough and relevant information.
At this year’s IR Magazine Awards – Greater China, the annual reports of small-cap, mid-cap and large-cap companies were a thrill to read. Judges at the prestigious award show will have a hard time choosing between the well-articulated equity stories, differentiating them by ease of flow and consistency/complementarity, and several have displayed state-of-the-art design.
Ahead of the awards show, we would like to share some of our insights into what our team at Hill+Knowlton believes are suggested best practices for creating annual reports on behalf of small-cap, mid-cap and large-cap companies.
This is an important category because it represents the hard work, resourcefulness and creativity of small-cap companies in their annual reports. The annual reports of small-cap companies are strong tools as these companies comprise the bulk of listings out there and probably inspire small businesses of all sizes hoping for a public market listing someday.
Annual reports in this category require clear and concise language that gives the reader a holistic understanding of how the company has dealt with changing economic, financial, ESG and, in this particular year, an exogenous shock like the Covid-19 pandemic. Stakeholders that matter to small-cap stocks might also include retail investors who, in particular, are sensitive to changes in business performance of such companies and the impact of changes in stock value on their wealth.
Gabriel Tan, head of financial communications for Greater China, Hill+Knowlton Strategies