Title: Annual reports and company announcements utility for investment decisions: an Indian study

Authors: Meena Bhatia

Addresses: Indian Institute of Management Sambalpur, Basantpur, Near Gosala, Sambalpur (Odisha), 768025, India

Abstract: This study explores the perceptions towards corporate annual reports and its sections, and other announcements used for investment decisions by Indian individual investors; and to study differences in perceptions between user groups based on occupation. The data were collected through a questionnaire; descriptive statistics, and KruskalWallis tests were used to analyse the results. Findings reveal that the three financial statements are most important, and performance highlights are the most understandable section in annual reports. Announcements made on stock exchanges are the most frequently used among other types of announcements, and users reported that they provide new information. User groups differed significantly in their perceptions about the importance and understandability of various sections of annual reports, and other announcements used for investment decisions.

Keywords: annual reports; emerging markets; investment decisions; occupation; investors; other announcements; India.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBEX.2026.151655

International Journal of Business Excellence, 2026 Vol.38 No.2, pp.180 - 200

Received: 02 Nov 2021
Accepted: 09 Apr 2022
Published online: 12 Feb 2026 *

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