Business overview

As in previous years, few companies really excel at introducing their business and telling readers the essentials: what they do, where they do it, how they’re organised and the scale of each division. Investors tell us that this information is very helpful – a quick recap of a company’s scale, scope and direction. And particularly helpful when many companies are re-shaping themselves to tough out some bitter market conditions.

We’ve selected Cobham, Smiths and Xstrata as examples worth a look. In general, sectors that do this best are Banks and Insurance, while, on average, the Healthcare and Retail sectors could do better.

Top marks:

• Narrative and graphical description of the business
• Consistent use of divisional terms throughout document
• Quick, easy-to-grasp information for first time readers
• Operational detail: geographic breakdown, revenue split, major markets, etc

Low marks:

• Confused narrative text, directed at industry experts
• No graphical ‘at a glance’
• Business description buried deep within the report
• Different references to same division within the report