How to analyse a company
Over the past few weeks, we have, in this column, explained facets of fundamental analysis. But where, as some of our readers have asked, is the information on financials, corporate plans and histories required to analyse a company, available? Here's listing a few sources you can tap for the same. Announcements and reports The first source would be the documents and updates that companies themselves put out. Take the annual report. These are usually treasure troves of information on financials, material developments through the year, management strategies and outlook. The how-to guide for reading annual reports has previously been detailed in this column. An added bonus in annual reports is the industry analysis, which appears in the Management Discussion and Analysis segment. Next, companies routinely make announcements about their operations such as orders secured; clients added, deals signed, mergers and acquisitions, and so on. Reading up on these will allow you to keep track