Annual report remains a means of communication with greatest credibility – the printed report loses importance
No other instrument of corporate communication enjoys as much credibility as the annual report. And this is unlikely to change in the coming years. Readers of annual reports continue to expect added value beyond purely regulatory requirements. For both authors and readers, however, financial reporting remains the central element in terms of content. Sustainability, social responsibility and business model issues are currently rated as less important, but their importance is likely to increase significantly in the future. In terms of output formats, the digital PDF document has overtaken the classic print version in popularity. However, the future restriction to pure online reporting is controversial. These are the findings of a research project conducted by the Swiss Society of Investor Relations Agencies GIRAS, the Center for Corporate Reporting CCR and the Department of Business Administration at the University of Zurich.