The writing is on the wall for ink on paper (in London and Sydney particularly)

I know we’ve had (note past tense) a recession, but now it’s all looking good (at least for the next two weeks according to various journos in that esteemed business newspaper the Financial Review) and we can start planning a bright new future.

The trees in Australia didn’t get too much of a reprieve this year, despite my efforts, as there still seems to be an abundance of paper-based June year end annual reports about to be printed in the next couple of months. The printers around town however will still cry poor. Quantities are down and the digital printers are massing at the gate. The writing is on the wall for ink on paper.

Onward and upward with online and HTML. So where does your company stand in the online reporting stakes? What investment has it made in its most expensive and important investor communication of the year? Yes I know there are many excuses that are trotted out in response to this question - We’re not ready for it yet.  We’re too small. We got hit badly by the recession. We don’t have the time. Our shareholder base is too old to appreciate this type of thing. Our IT guy looked into it and said it wasn’t worth his time getting involved. It’s too expensive. An insufficient number of our shareholders have access to broadband. Our company secretary’s brother owns a printing company. You know what I mean.

It’s no understatement to say that the majority of companies are approaching it in a gradual way. Read that as slow. The easy way out for companies courtesy of an ‘interactive PDF/html’ version has slowed progress and diverted companies from seeking best practice. In fact there is a strong argument that an ‘interactive PDF/html’ version may be counter productive as it does not provide a great experience for the investor, who may just be tempted to revert to the printed version. Also, I haven’t met up with too many companies who seem overly bothered about whether their competitors are doing something better than they are. Oh well.

The reported take up of online reporting by shareholders, whether in London or Sydney, is reported to be 80 percent. It is a concern however to read an article by Clare Harrison in IR Magazine where she states that only around 5 percent are ‘happy to receive the annual report electronically’! I suppose it depends on how you interpret ‘happy’. But why only 5 percent? Does it really take this long to wean shareholders away from print and have them embrace the benefits of accessing reporting information online? I can only think that so many have been afflicted by the limited experience of PDF and ‘interactive PDF/html’ reports touted by many suppliers around the globe.

How long will it take for best practice html ‘mini website’ reports to gain majority approval? Any bets?
What will it take to achieve this? How long will it take for printed annual reports to be reduced to black & white text-only documents for compliance and registration purposes? I got my hands on the 2008 Apple annual report (Form 10-K) recently - all 102 pages of it - all black & white, text only, on rather thin bond paper with a couple of big staples through it. The way of the future?

The html report, just like a website, offers considerable scope for almost unlimited functionality and the ability to customise to specific requirements - graph building tools, charting, print baskets, videos, podcasts - all of which enhance the user experience and leave the expensive days of print far behind.

I raised the new opportunities afforded by XBRL more than a year ago to many companies in Sydney. I have also included details on our website and in blogs, but to date have not received a single enquiry. The benefits are reportedly substantial, where specific items of data are ‘tagged’ for recognition, thereby enabling investors, analysts, accountants, auditors etc to find, compare and analyse data faster and more efficiently. By rights it should enable essential people like accountants to do their jobs faster, thereby saving clients money - but where have we heard that before?

At the end of the day money rules. If only someone could produce an html online report for the price of those nasty ‘interactive PDF/html’ versions. If you’re in London check out report-axs.co.uk and speak with Paul Sillers. In Sydney check out report-axs.com and speak with me. If you’re unfortunate enough not to live in these two highly desirable locations speak to me anyway as we don’t even need a face-to-face meeting to get results you may have only dreamed of. Until now.



Tony Heywood is a Fellow of the Design Institute of Australia, founder of Heywood Innovation in Sydney Australia and joint founder of BrandSynergy in Singapore.

View some of Heywood’s work on www.heywood.com.au

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