【Short Review】FY2019 Integrated Report Evaluation with Investors’ Perspective

The International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) describes the purpose of the Integrated Reports as "the communication about value creation." That is to say, it aims that the companies communicate to investors (i.e., providers of financial capital) what they are dealing with and seeking for in terms of value creation and provide the information that could motivate investors  to analyze the company and promote dialogues between the company and investors .
More than 500 listed companies prepare the Integrated Report in Japan. The scale has reached one of the largest in the world and still on the rise. Among those many Integrated Reports issued, however, some rough ones look like a mere combination of an annual report and a CSR report appear. Although it has the format of an Integrated Report, there are quite a few cases that it contains a considerable amount of information that does not necessarily contribute to investors for their analysis or evaluation of the company.
It results in a varied range of inclusion of the necessary contents in each Integrated Report for investors. Under such circumstances, not many securities analysts study promptly and proactively all the Integrated Reports issued by the companies in their coverage, although they are due to analyze those companies. Some securities analysts may not even recognize that the Integrated Reports contain the information that could help promote the understandings and support analysis of these companies.