Several of our clients have now advanced the position, that if they have allowed for electronic delivery in their new MOI;

• They can then issue a written notice to shareholders saying that the annual report is available online and that the report in print format will only be delivered to the shareholder should they request in writing or via electronic means.

Suggested process:

A: Your sponsor needs to approve the electronic delivery strategy in the context of the companies act sections 6(10) and 6 (11).

B: Your sponsor can then apply to the JSE for a ruling in terms of the listing requirements. The JSE’s apparent position is that they will review this on a case-by-case basis:

Clearly there will be huge savings from this process, it would be interesting to gauge your sponsors view on the above.

To prepare for this new environment, that appears to inevitable, we have put in place the following: –

Print reports on demand

It is not a complicated process to create a print file from the online report, using our server based PDF functionality – we simply write the online report to a single carefully crafted PDF file.

Working with Hirt & Carter, SA’s premier digital printer, we have established a ball park price of approx R400 – R750 per printed report (volume dependent) for those shareholders who actually request a printed copy.

Electronic delivery environment

AlertsCentral is a revolutionary platform that enables your shareholders to manage their alerts, calendar and events with one login.

Key features

• Copy and paste to issue alerts to all your registered users
• Alerts, calendars and events grouped for user
• One-click registration for events
• Shareholders verified against register and can accept electronic delivery

Latest update from the JSE:

Section 3 and the appendix to Section 11 the listings requirements state ““distribute to all holders of securities”. Distribute is defined as “the delivery of notices as provided for in terms of Section 6(10) of the Act and/or delivery and/or notification of documentation in terms of Section 6(11) of the Act”.

Companies have to comply with the Companies Act in terms of the Listings Requirements. The use of electronic means is not mandatory and therefore an individual choice for each issuer in consultation with their sponsoring broker/DA. I imagine that the shareholder demographics would be a matter for consideration.

However, this must not be confused with submission to the JSE – these have to be electronic; even though an issuer has distributed hard copies to shareholders.

Kindly be advised that the Companies Act is changing with effect from 1 May 2013 to address conflicts between MOIs and the Companies Act.

It may also be a good idea to be familiar with arrangements with Strate, especially where shares are held through a nominee company.

For more information please contact Oliver Hoffmann on ohoffmann@investoreports.com

In each reporting centre the leading providers of online reports and corporate/investor web sites are online specialists.

Investis in the UK, Nexxar in Europe, Thomson in the USA, and Investoreports in Africa.

Why?

Because they are driven by people who for years have been passionate about the application of the web to stakeholder reporting. They are populated by people who understand web usability, web strategy, web design, SEO. They have a legacy of proprietary site tools that they are constantly evolving.

On the other hand print agencies have been web denlalists for years, arguing for the use of PDFs not proper HTML, pushing forward the dreaded “interactive PDF” options.

Finally as legislative changes cut back their print income, they are looking to online to replace the lost revenue.

How little interest and belief do the South African annual report print agencies have in the web?

Of the top two SA annual report print agencies, one still does not have a website at all, and one has a holding one pager.

Go figure…

Make your hard work work for you.

You put an enormous effort into best practice integrated reporting.

But frequently your report is buried several levels down in your corporate or investor website.

There are three important strategies to consider:

1. Make the link to your HTML report visible

​The easiest first.

Our research on over 6 million pages of online reports shows that the ratio of PDFs downloaded to HTML pages viewed is typically around 50:10 000. (No we are not making this up, we are happy to share our Google Analytics data with you.)

So if you want to encourage stakeholders to read your report – make sure the link to your HTML report is visible on your website home page.

2. Integrate the report into your site

The integrated corporate / investor site model leverages your online integrated report to maximum effect. The concept brings your report content to the top level, with a narrow layer of day-to-day information overlaid. It eliminates content duplication, improves usability and cuts costs.

Take a look a Steinhoff, Standard Bank or Datatec.

We are not the only one advocating this model, Investis in the UK recommends a similar approach.

3. Leverage aggregation of content and social media

Sites like Masoko, the reporting hub for African companies, which aggregate content, bring stakeholders to your reports through providing a single point of access to multiple reports, driving social media campaigns and leveraging alerts databases.

Masoko integrates your investor information into one integrated web-based resource, where stakeholders are provided with a unique range of powerful, in-depth analysis tools, some of which they can get nowhere else on the web.

The site showcases your investment case to a broad spectrum of Africa focused investors, who will be using and registering on Masoko to research top companies in the primary African exchanges. We will actively target investors and potential partners in the Africa space, and use media exposure and search engine optimisation to drive traffic to your information. Masoko is fully integrated into a range of social media, including our own Masoko community forum.

You can have your investor snapshot on Masoko, integrated into your country and sector, providing your stakeholders and potential investors with all your key investor information and materials, immediately on hand, in one central location. You will have proactive management and advice to keep your snapshot up-to-date and in-line with best practice.

You will have a best practice online annual report, integrated into the Masoko platform. Uniquely, your stakeholders can explore the key elements of your report with a single click, while having the opportunity to put your reporting elements up side-by-side with other top companies in your sector.

Visit the site

Explore our latest presentation on online reporting trends.

Every indication is that the online report will become the primary reporting document in 2012.

This is a wonderful opportunity to create engaging, usable online documents.

However:

All the client effort in general is still being put into the design of the printed report, with the print designs envitably only released to us a week or so before the programming starts.
There is little consideration given to the implications of the print design in terms of the online report until it is generally too late to make any meaningful changes.
Information design is crucial to make the online report intelligible, but still we get graphics and tables etc that are made up for the printed document (two page spreads for example) that will not translate to a web page, given the time frame.
There needs to be planning around the structure and technology to integrate case studies, focus stories, light-boxes, accordions and other usability tools.
The client executives in charge of the online reports, who want to get involved in the design and structure of the online report, could possibly look to broaden their knowledge base to encompass a smattering of web best practice and usability principles so we can work off a common base.

In summary;

Please let us design the online report in tandem with the printed report; plan to brief the print designers and ourselves at the same time.
Let’s address the information design issues early so we can communicate your strategic messages in an engaging and usable manner.
Consider signing up for our executive web usability course.

Email alerts are a great opportunity to communicate with an audience who have expressed an explicit interest in your messages.

In the past communicating with your alerts subscribers was done through typically clunky custom built programmes or painfully via Outlook etc.

New cloud based services provide incredible functionality and reporting, for example (if you have the time), you can watch your subscribers on a world map as they open your email one-by-one! For the first few mailings this is quite an addictive process.

But more importantly, the programme reports on bounces, unsubscribes and links clicked, enabling you to manage your alerts communications in a truly professional way.

You can create subscribe forms to add to your website in a few clicks and issue new alerts yourself in a few minutes.

Get a good looking template

Well designed templates are a great opportunity to attract attention to your message and bring your brand alive in the email environment.

It is crucial that these work well in all email programmes and are programmed to avoid being classified as spam.

Engage social media

LinkedIn, in our view, is the priority network for corporates.

Having a presence on this platform, and using a simple news feed on your home page, is a powerful way to engage a corporate global audience as opposed to the more “social” networks like Twitter and Facebook.

Go App

Email alerts should link to web based communications that are easily browsed online.

Your users are heading in two directions – bigger and bigger screens for desktop browsing – and smaller (well, tablet small) for mobile communications.

For desktop versions this offers exciting opportunities for more impactful communications, on the small screen your sites need to be re-streamed to read and work effectively in this environment.