WTIG Survey May 2018.

The pulse of shareholders on receiving their company annual report in Compact Disc still remains the same (See the vanguard newspaper article of June 2013, and WTIG Survey of May 2017, on this issue). In the newspaper publication, shareholders highlighted a number of reasons why they do not like getting their annual report in CD. The reasons ranged from the need to get a device before they can access the report, to the CDs not being reliable etc. all of which push shareholders back to what they are used to (Paper/ Booklet). However recent survey has shown that there seems to be a contender for the affection of shareholders, and this is the electronic copy (soft copy) of the annual report.

Recent survey (WTIG Survey May 2018) puts the electronic copy ahead of the booklet on the preference level of shareholders.

Inference from the research survey

A total of 123,120 responses were gotten from 300,000 administered questionnaires. Analysis of the data shows that the electronic copy is the most preferred mode shareholders want to get their annual report, having a frequency of 59,097 which is about 48% of the total number of shareholders that participated in the survey. Paper/booklet is the second most preferred, posting a frequency of 54,173 which is 44% of the number of shareholders. The compact disc is the least preferred of the 3 mode of getting company annual report, having a frequency of 9,850 which is 8% of the number of shareholders.

The departure from previous research survey is that there is a new mode (which is the electronic copy/soft copy) of receiving the annual report that seems to be in tune with the desire of the shareholders, although the booklet is still holding strong relevance amongst the shareholders.

The consistent from previous research survey is that the compact disc remains an undesirable mode amongst the majority of shareholders.

This research survey clearly highlights the need for adjustments to be made as regards the mode company annual reports are distributed to shareholders, so as to ensure improvement in dissemination of the company financial information as well as the level of satisfaction shareholders derive.