The Annual Report

Narration: Part One

The most important source of financial information on a publicly held corporation is its annual report.

The annual report usually includes the following sections:
  - The Chairman's letter to the shareholders,
  - Financial Highlights,
  - Management's discussion and analysis,
  - The financial statements,
  - The notes to the statements,
  - The auditors' report,
  - The financial summary,
  - Investor and Shareholder Information, and
  - Quarterly Financial Data.

However, sometimes these sections bear different names, and other sections may be included as well.

Narration: Part Two

Alternative titles to the Chairman´s letter to the shareholders section are: The President´s letter to the stockholders, Letter from the Chairman, Letter from the CEO, Chairman´s Letter, Chairman´s Statement, Letter to Our Shareholders, Letter to our Stockholders, Letter to Share Owners, or To Our Shareowners.

Alternative titles to the Financial Highlights section are: Key data, Highlights, Facts and figures, Financial Review, or Selected Financial Data.

Alternative titles to the Management´s discussion and analysis section are: Management´s discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations, Management report, Report of Management, Directors´ report, or The Board of Directors´ Report.
The Financial statements prepared for a group of companies instead of a single company are called consolidated financial statements. They are listed in the group´s annual report under the title "Consolidated financial statements".

The Auditors´ report section is sometimes called: Report of Independent Auditors, Auditor´s report, or Report of Independent Accountants.

The Financial summary section is sometimes called: Financial record, Five-year financial summary or Ten-year financial summary, Five Years in Summary or Ten Years in Summary, Five-Year Summary of Earnings and Financial Highlights, or Ten-Year Summary of Earnings and Financial Highlights, or Summary of operations for a five-year period, or Summary of operations for a ten-year period.

The Investor and Shareholder Information section is sometimes divided into two different sections: Shareholder Information, or Stockholder Information, and Investor information.
The Quarterly Financial Data section is sometimes called Quarterly Data, or Financial Information by quarter.