...TO OUR SHAREHOLDERS: One of the traits that characterizes our company’s performance in 2004 is “continuous improvement.” We’ve enhanced our processes, introduced new and innovative products throughout the year and improved our financial performance. Our success results from the continued execution of our long-term growth strategy and our employees’ dedication to incremental improvements each and every day. Bard’s core values of quality, integrity, service and innovation were clearly demonstrated by our employees this year, and we appreciate their passion, loyalty and dedication. The ultimate criterion upon which we judge our success, however, is the ability of our products to improve the lives of patients through the extension or enhancement of their quality of life and clinical outcomes. The Bard products featured on the following pages of this report were chosen as examples of attaining this important standard we’ve set for ourselves. The stories illustrate the collaborative and innovative spirit that permeates our daily work on behalf of patients all over the globe. 2004 Financial Highlights • Net sales growth: 16% as reported; ongoing net sales growth: 14% (in constant currency) • Gross profit margin: 60.1% versus 57.5% in 2003 • R&D expenditures: $111.6 million, up 28% over 2003 • Net income: $302.8 million (up 80%) as reported • Net income: $262.7 million (up 29%) excluding items identified in the financial highlights on page 1 • EPS: $2.82 (up 76%) as reported ...
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...CA 1965 to facilitate the application to strike-off from the Registry. 4. The effective date of the relaxation of the requirements for application takes effect from 1 July to 31 December 2012 (moratorium period). 5. Applicants who apply to strike-off the name of dormant companies during the moratorium period are not required to submit the management account and companies‟ resolution. 6. Companies with outstanding penalties or compound issued prior to (a) (b) a flat fee of RM200.00 for the company; and a flat fee of RM200.00 for each offence committed by each director of the company. the moratorium period will only be required to pay: WHO MAY APPLY? 7. The application may be made by either the director or shareholder of a dormant company by filling up the Statement of Declaration by Applicant as per “Appendix 1”. REQUIREMENTS FOR AN APPLICATION UNDER SECTION 308(1) DURING MORATORIUM PERIOD 8. The Registrar may exercise his discretion to strike off the name of companies if he is satisfied that the application fulfills the dormant following requirements: (a) The company has no...
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...Buffet letter Date: 4/28/2015 Buffett's letter to the shareholders is the most valuable learning materials of value investors. The first page of the letter to shareholders is the comparison of Berkshire’s performance and S&P 500, in which the growth rate of per-share book value of Berkshire was 8.3% and that of S&P 500 was 13.7% in 2014. As Buffett has adopted book value recently, it is hard to outperform S&P 500. Buffett introduced growth rate of share price in 2015. The share price of Berkshire increased by 27.0% in 2014, which was almost two times higher than the growth rate of S&P 500. The letter in 2015 has 42 pages. As M&A plan of Heinz and Kraft conveyed the information, Buffett said at the beginning of the letter: “Today, our emphasis has shifted in a major way to owning and operating large businesses.” Buffett was engaged in M&G in 2014 and has got into the M&A of power utilities, manufacturer, retailer and US railway field so far. Buffett has been always regarded as the stock market vane and its “sure, accurate and relentless” security selection ability attracts thousands of investors as his loyal “fans”. Buffett has led Berkshire to make great achievements in M&A. “Berkshire’s gain in net worth during 2014 was $18.3 billion, which increased the per-share book value of both our Class A and Class B stock by 8.3%. Over the last 50 years, per-share book value has grown from $19 to $146,186, a rate of 19.4% compounded annually,” Buffett wrote. Buffett’s letter to the...
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...Introduction It is a mandatory requirement for public companies in most countries to produce a financial report on a periodic basis for relevant regulatory bodies and shareholders. The financial report usually includes a director’s report, three financial statements and an audit report, as well as relevant notes to the accounts. This paper will look at the financial reporting practices of four companies in a comparative international context from a user’s perspective. This report was not completed to assess the performance of the selected companies. Instead the research objective of this paper is to analyze the annual reports of the four top tier companies in the global airline industry and observe which airlines disclose the most useful information, within their annual reports, for me as a user. How you read an annual report depends upon your purpose. As an investor, your purpose may be to assess: profitability, survivability, growth, stability, dividends, risks and other factors which may affect your investment in that company. This paper focuses upon five aspects of reporting within the companies’ annual reports that were the most relevant to me as a user: geographic segmentation, the auditor’s report, presentation, fuel risk, and the letter to the shareholders. Delta Airlines was chosen as the base airline to compare the other three airlines to; China Southern Air, Emirates Air, and Lufthansa Air. The analysis resulted in a very distinct successor. Emirates Air...
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...annual report cover letters are different. Groupon Inc.’s cover letter is more detailed and provides more information about the company. • ITC’s annual report does not have a table of contents. • The amount of information in the annual reports differ substantially. ITC’s annual report consists of 22 pages while Groupon’s annual report contains 118 pages. • The ITC’s annual report begins with information listing their board of directors, officers and operating officials, while Groupon’s management information is at the end of the report. Groupon’s report discloses information regarding executive compensation and ITC does not disclose information regarding executive compensation anywhere in its report. Groupon also lists the officers’ names and ages under the employees section and gives a brief description of each of them. • Groupon has a forward-looking statement forewarning users that its financial statements contain information with risk of uncertainty. • ITC does not explain what its business is about, strategy, distribution, marketing, partners, operations, and competition. • Groupon discloses a variety of risk factors and ITC only discloses one major risk, which is monetary inflation. • ITC concentrates heavily in monetary inflation and governmental issues. • ITC’s letter to shareholders gives a short description of important facts such as lawsuits, debt, and employee relationships. It also invites comments and questions from its shareholders. Groupon does not have...
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...President – Investor Relations REVIEW OF RESPONSE LETTER TO SISTER DORIS On April 23, 1996, Cypress received a letter from the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia. The latter is a religious congregation of approximately 1,000 women and was, at the time the letter was written, the beneficial owner of a number of Cypress shares. The letter was a form letter, and it carried the stamped signature of Doris Gormley, OSF. In the letter, Sister Doris, speaking for the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia as a Cypress shareholder, expressed the view that a company "is best represented by a Board of qualified Directors reflecting the equality of the sexes, races, and ethnic groups." The letter went on to say that it is the congregation's policy "to withhold authority to vote for nominees of a Board of Directors that does not include women and minorities." In response to the letter, an individual wrote an argument in defense of our current selection process. On top of this defensive argument, the writer outlined the pitfalls associated with investors questioning our practices on the grounds of creating “responsible corporations”. This response letter is detailed and outlines facts and figures to support its claims concerning these pitfalls. Yet, this letter espouses its point using a confrontational tone and terminology designed to insult the intended audience. The individual has also proposed sending this letter to all Cypress shareholders and a select group of sympathetic veterans of...
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...Khalid, Abate #1_Style Analysis Virginia M. Rometty, president and CEO of International Business Machines (IBM), writes a letter to shareholders containing an annual report (2001) of the company. In this letter Rometty, aims to convince her readers of how well the company is doing even in a recession. She did that by means of presenting facts (plain) and also reaching to them in a softer more informal tone (persuasive). Rometty begins her letter by adopting a very positive and optimistic tone. “I am pleased to report that IBM had another strong year in 2011” by doing this she is able to capture the readers interest, making them eager to read more about this great news. In her very next sentence she lets her shareholders know of their importance by saying “your company...” rather than just saying the company. This shows her understanding of who her audiences are; by choosing her words carefully she is able to instill confidence into the shareholders, letting them know that the company was able to achieve this great success because of them. Using the pronoun “your” she is also letting them know, this is their company and the actions they take impacts its performance. Shortly after capturing the readers interest in her persuasive style introductory, Rometty shifts her writing style to plain by introducing small paragraphs stating facts about the company’s revenue and income, margins, earning per share, cash flow etc. what’s interesting is that she’s not only presenting facts...
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...journey as an investor at the age of 13, continued to cross hurdles of his business carrier. It's annual report season, which includes announcements from the CEO and/or chairman of every public U.S. company. Given that Warren Buffett, the chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, is the most successful investor of all time, you might expect that a 23-page communication from him would be jargon-packed and over most people’s heads. In actuality, Buffett's annual letter to shareholders is famously down-to-earth, conversational, and witty. Never mind for now the specific points he makes: how he communicates his message is a lesson for all of us. Warren Buffett writes his letter to shareholders as a letter to his sisters - then crosses out "Dear Doris and Bertie" and replaces it with "To the Shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway". It’s not enough that Warren Buffett has become one of the richest men in the world. He’s also a world-class communicator – and nowhere does this gift go on public display more than in his annual letter to shareholders, to the CEOs and the public events that he attends like auction event, different functions. And all these activities offer terrific lessons for startup ventures in shaping their communications. Lesson No. 1: One Must Converse Like a Real Human Being There’s something about a position of power that often causes perfectly normal executives to embrace “corporate speak.” Their communications...
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...Target has been communicating these changes through various means. The changes they needed to communicate were informing customers of the security breach, addressing the bad press coverage to shareholders, downsizing of employees, and indicating policy changes to external vendors. Target Corporation issued a statement to customers informing them of the security breach. Then CEO Gregg Steinhafel sent a letter to customers apologizing for the inconvenience, assuring that changes in security measures are a top priority to the company. It also talked about the immediate investigation into the breach and recommendations for customers to take steps in protecting their own information (Chmura, 2013). Throughout the coming months, Target Corporation provided updates into the change processes by issuing statements to the public through media outlets. The company has since created a question and answer page on their website about the data breach for everyone to have access to, and provides answers to the main questions of how and why this happened (Target Corp., 2014). The company did not shy away from questions from the public, which is smart in regaining consumer trust back after the incident. Being open and honest about the breach helped the company maintain its customers for the future. Using letters to inform the impacted customers was a good way to personalize the...
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...Case Question 1 In his 2002 letter to shareholders, Warren Buffett referred to financial derivatives as the "financial weapons of mass destruction" and a ticking "time bomb" waiting to explode. His perspective may well be derived from his own experience with some derivative positions his company, Berkshire Hathaway Inc, inherited from the $22 billion purchase of General Reinsurance Corporation in 1998 (Berkshire Hathaway Inc, 2002). Unable to find an agreeable counterparty to buy the General Reinsurance Securities, a subsidiary of General Reinsurance Corporation that deals with derivatives, Buffett decided to close it which required him to unwind the subsidiary's derivative positions. The complexity of the derivatives positions took him years to complete the unwinding and at a pretax loss of $173 million for General Reinsurance Corp in 2002 (Berkshire Hathaway Inc, 2002) and $409 million in cumulative pretax loss as of 2008 (Berkshire Hathaway Inc, 2009). He likens the unwinding process to entering hell, stating that derivatives positions were "easy to enter and almost impossible to get exit" (Berkshire Hathaway Inc, 2004). In 2002, trades in derivatives were growing rapidly in recent years and they pose a "mega-catastrophic risk" that could harm not only their sellers and buyers, but the whole economic system for the following reasons: 1. Mark-to-market accounting (Investopedia 2011) is a legal form of accounting for a venture involved in buying and selling securities...
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...Mennen Medical was a major shareholder. Mennen decided to sell their shares to a group of investors called Odessey Partners L.P. • To finance the transaction, Mennen executed and delivered a five year promissory note to each plaintiff. • The notes were identical except for the names of the shareholders and the amounts of the notes. • Each note called for five equal annual payments principals starting in September 1991, with monthly interest payments the first year, followed by annual interest payments. • Mennen obtain standby irrevocable letters of credits. • Letters of Credit is a letter obtained from a bank guaranteeing that a buyer’s payment to a seller will be received on time and for the correct amount. • Each of this letters were identical in form except for the name of the beneficiary and face amounts. • On this appeal, appellant Morgan argues that it should be entitled to recover overpayments made to plaintiffs on the UCP governed letters of credit pursuant to pre Uniform Commercial Code common law, notwithstanding that plaintiffs allegedly false documentation facially complied with the terms of the instrument. • Morgan contends that it did not learn until after making payments that the documents fraudulently (as it perceives and alleges the circumstance) specified the amounts owing and, as such, it should be permitted to assert a claim against the payee beneficiaries subsequent to satisfaction pursuant to the letters of credit. • The trial court correctly...
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...with managing the company in such a way as to maximise the benefits to shareholders and other stakeholders, whilst ensuring that the company complies with all applicable laws and regulations. It is, therefore, a serious matter for the company if a director is underperforming or if he or she is at odds with the strategies which the majority of the company’s management have adopted. In such circumstances, there may be no option for the company other than to seek the removal of such a director from office. In many companies, the power to remove a director from office is granted to the board of directors or to a majority shareholder under the company’s Articles of Association. For these companies, removing a director will be a relatively straightforward matter, usually requiring the board or majority shareholder to simply serve written notice on the director in question. For companies which do not have these powers enshrined in their Articles, company law provides a statutory procedure to allow shareholders to remove a director by passing an ordinary resolution at a general meeting of the company. Statutory Procedure The procedure for removing Ian by ordinary resolution is set out in sections 168 and 169 of the Companies Act 2006. A shareholder wishing to propose a resolution to remove a director must give special notice of his intention to the company. On receipt of the special notice from the shareholder, the board of directors of the company must call a general meeting of the...
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...Annual Reports Stephanie Shumway McCleneghan Colorado Technical University Online Annual Reports An annual report is a document that companies must provide to their shareholders that describe the organizations operations and financial conditions (Annual Reports, 2014). There are many components that an annual report usually contains such as different financial highlights, management discussion and analysis, auditors reports, and corporate information. All annual reports revolve around financial data, so it is safe to say that when beginning a report, you need to focus on the fiscal numbers. To gather this data, you will want to sit down with the accounting department to review that previous year’s performance. Once this information is reviewed, it will help to provide direction for the report. These reports also tend to act as a sort of marketing devise to share holders and potential investors to show case the company’s strengths. This report generally contains six different sections: a letter from the chairmen, the chief executive’s review, a profile of the board of directors, financial reports, audit reports, and the financial highlights. The chairman’s letter or letter to the shareholders usually acts as a summation of the annual report and reviews the company’s performance over the past year. This tends to be the most read part of the annual report (Annual Reports, 2014). The next section is usually a statement from management that discusses and analyzes sales, profit...
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...Disney consumer products consist of toys, fashion and home products, food, health & beauty, Disney stationary, Disney stores, Disney Publishing Worldwide, Disney Global Book Group, Disney Digital Books, Disney English, Disney Family Fun, Disney Baby Einstein, and Disney websites. According to the Disney 2010 financial annual report and share holder letter, consumer products generate revenue from the licensing characters from Disney film, television, other properties, publishing children’s books and magazines, retail stores, and internet shopping sites. The operating expenses include costs of goods sold, distribution, operating labor, and retail occupancy costs. The revenue that comes from consumer products can make a major difference on how Disney does its financial planning. According to the Disney 2010 financial annual report and shareholder letter, changes in public and consumer tastes and preferences for entertainment and consumer products could reduce demand for Disney entertainment offerings and products and affect the profitability of the business. The success of Disney businesses depends on the company’s ability to consistently create and distribute consumer products that meet the changing preferences of the consumer market. Many of the Disney businesses increasingly depend on the acceptance of the company’s products by consumers outside of the United States. The consumers outside of the United States base their success on Disney’s prediction and adaptation to the changes...
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...Everywhere Corporation (“Sports Everywhere”) acquired Burger Palace after the Board of Directors unanimously approved the transaction. Upon learning of the acquisition, the Sports Everywhere shareholders plan to file a derivative lawsuit alleging that the directors breached their fiduciary duty to the corporation. Eugene Dallas (“Dallas”), Chairman of the Board of Directors, inquires whether the business judgment rule is applicable to the determination of the Board. STATEMENT OF FACTS Dallas is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Sports Everywhere, a company that operates a small chain of gyms in and around Albany, New York, with revenue of two million dollars last year. A few years ago, Dallas lent a small sum of money to his sister’s best friend to start Burger Palace, an upscale specialty hamburger restaurant that has yet to reach its potential, according to Dallas....
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