U.S. Companies
Generally I get annual reports from one of the regular EDGAR-related Web sites, discussed in the Filings section of the "Securities and Exchange Commission" entry. But annual reports don't have to be sent to the SEC, so sometimes they're not on the EDGAR sites. In that case, the Public Register's Online Annual Report Service might be able to link you to postings at the corporation's own Web page, or just go directly to the company web site. If that fails, LIVEDGAR has a large collection of annual reports. Also, you could try searching Lexis (FEDSEC;AR) or Westlaw (EDGAR). Or call ThomsonReuters Custom Research Services (301-545-4930 to reach D.C. directly or 800-638-8241 for the toll-free main number) or Westlaw Business (877-362-800-669-1154, formerly GSI Document Retrieval).
Original Annual Reports: If you need an original Annual Report you can, (1) call the company's investor relations office, and they may send it for free or (2) try to get it from the Public Record's Annual Report Service or (3) buy the report from GSI Document Retrieval (800-669-1154) or a competitor.
Historical Annual Reports: Some good sources:
- If you have access (e.g., through a university or public library system), Proquest has a database of Historical Annual Reports;
- Check your local public library and/or academic business libraries to see if they have annual reports on microform - there was a popular set going back to 1969;
- ThomsonReuters Custom Research (formerly Disclosure) has a historical collection of Annual Reports (call 301-545-4930 to reach D.C. directly or 800-638-8241 for the toll-free main number).
- The Library of Congress has a collection of pre-1974 annual reports, but you will have to arrange for document retrieval unless you can make the copies yourself.
For even older annual reports, Columbia University's Watson Library of Business and Economics has a collection of historical annual reports, most from before 1934. The Library posts a list of reports in the collection in Excel format. If you see what you need on the list, you can contact the library by phone (212-854-7804) or email (business
@libraries.cul.columbia.edu) and request that report be retrieved from off-site storage. (Be sure to identify the document by its bar code number on the list.) If you are not in the New York area, you will have to make special arrangements or send a document retrieval service to get a copy.
Foreign Companies
Annual Reports from companies outside the U.S. are available from:
Free Web postings: Many foreign companies post their annual reports on their Web sites. Links to some of these sites are collected on CAROL (Company Annual Reports Online). Links to U.K. annual reports are also available through the Northcote Web site (www.northcote.co.uk). If the link sites don't work, search for the company's Web site on one or two good search engines. Alternatively, Corporate Reports claims to provide annual reports for all U.K. companies and the 500 largest European companies.
Online Databases: Foreign annual reports are available through LIVEDGAR, Edgar Online, Morningstar Document Research (formerly 10K Wizard), Global Reports and the Pioneer database produced by Perfect Information . Annual reports for all U.K. companies are available in the in the ICC British Company Annual Reports database on Dialog (File 564).
Additional subscription-based services that I've never tried include: Standard & Poor's Market Insight and Thomson Research.
Document Delivery Services: You can buy foreign annual reports from the Annual Report Service, GSI Document Retrieval (800-669-1154) or another competitor.
