Business - About a Company

Company Reports / Financial Information

Many companies have online Investor Relations web pages. Annual Reports are posted as well as copies of other documents useful for current and prospective investors. Annual reports are good sources of information about a company's business history and recent financial health. They provide insight into what is important to the organization through the list of topics included in the report and the coverage attached to each.

Company websites can be usually located quickly by searching for them via a web search engine like Google. If you cannot locate a page aimed at investors, use the site's search engine. Type "annual report" into the search box. Alternatively type the same search terms and the name of your company, in a web search engine like Google.

Annualreports.com

Provides access to thousands of annual reports of major companies.

Hint: Select "company report" from the list of Special Limiters.

CAROL (Company Annual Reports Online)

A directory of corporate annual reports in the USA, Europe, and Asia.  Search for reports by company name, continent, or broad industry. Registration (free) required to view the fulltext of documents .

Corporate Profiler (FPInfomart)  (More info)

Hint: Select Company Snapshots, Investor Reports, or Historical Reports.

EDGAR (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission)

All companies, foreign and domestic, are required to file registration statements, periodic reports, and other forms electronically through EDGAR. Contains annual reports, press releases, and other public documents for most public companies in the US.  Note that annual reports are "10-K" forms for the SEC.

GMID - Global Market Information Database (More Info)

      Provides over 6500 detailed company profiles.

IRIN (Investor Relations Information Network)

View thousands of current and historical annual reports.

Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe (More info)

Hint: Select the business "tab" at the top left. Select a Source with the words "company reports".

Marketline   (More info)

Hint: Use the Company Profiles "tab".

SEDAR  (System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval)

All publically traded companies in Canada are required to file reports with the Canadian Depository for Securities. SEDAR offers access to corporate annual reports, financial statements, news releases, prospectuses, and take-over bid materials.

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Company News, Trends and Analysis

ABI/Inform (More Info)

Hint: Use the Advanced search tab at the top of the page. Type the name of your company into the text box provided. Select Company/Org from the drop down menu beside the text box with your keywords.

Business Source Premier (More Info)

Hint: Under Special Limiters for Business Source Premier locate: Company/Entity. Type in the name of your company in the text box provided. You do not need to enter in search terms at the top of the page.

CBCA Business  (More Info)

Hint: Use the Advanced search tab at the top of the page. Type the name of your company into the text box provided. Select Company/Org from the drop down menu beside the text box with your keywords.

C.P.I.Q. (Canadian Periodical Index)   (More Info)

Hint: Use the Advanced search tab at the top of the page. Type the name of your company into the text box provided. Select Company name from the drop down menu beside the text box with your keywords.

Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe   (More Info)

Hint: Use the News search tab at the top of the page. Type the name of your company into the first text box provided. Select In Company Indexing from the drop down menu.

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Company History

Many companies have online company history web pages. They are often located in a section titled: About. Company websites can be usually located quickly by searching for them via a web search engine like Google. If you cannot locate a company history page, use the site's search engine. Type "history" into the search box. Alternatively type the keyword "history" and the name of your company, in a web search engine like Google.

Library Catalogue

Companies and their executives are often profiled in books. Search for the company or names of key directors over the history of the company. If you don't find a book on your company at Seneca, be sure to try your local public library.

Corporate Profiler (FPInfomart)   (More info)

Hint: Select Historical Reports. Provides detailed descriptions on operations, seven year consolidated financial statements, capital stock changes and company history dating back to incorporation for the top currently and formerly traded Canadian companies.

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Stock Price

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Financial Ratios

About Ratios:

Business Ratios and Formulas: a Comprehensive Guide  HF5691.B73

Contains approximately fifty new ratios and formulas, as well as new chapters covering ratios and formulas for e-commerce and human resources.

Almanac of Business and Industrial Ratios   HF5681.R25A45

Provides the latest available IRS data on nearly 5 million U.S. and international companies, giving data for each industry subdivided into 13 categories based on company size that allows for a precise benchmark against which to measure any company's performance.

RMA Annual Statement Studies  HF5691.B73

Contains nineteen common ratios along with balance sheet and income statements for over 350 lines of businesses in various industries. Provides four years of historical data and breaks each industry down by company size in assets and sales.

Corporate Profiler (FPInfomart)   More info:

Provides ratios for the top 1400 publically traded Canadian companies and industry standard ratios for the top 750 publically traded Canadian companies.

Quarterly Financial Statistics for Enterprises (Statistics Canada)

Contains balance sheet, income statement and ratio data on a quarterly basis covering 31 financial and non-financial sectors and their totals at the all Canada level.

Financial and Taxation Statistics for Enterprises (Statistics Canada)

Contains annual aggregate data of Canadian enterprises classified by 57 industry groups including, asset, liability and equity items encompassed in a balance sheet, revenue and expense items as reported on an income statement, along with several common financial performance ratios.

Performance Plus From Industry Canada (Industry Canada)

Interactive on-line financial performance tool to help new and established firms determine how they measure up to the competition. It allows you to enter your company's financial data confidentially and compare it to industry averages. The information is from 600 business sectors across Canada.

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Tutorials

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Other Subject Guides

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