FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Shelley Taylor, US: 1-650/473-6514, UK: 44(0)20-7243-3438 or shelley@infofarm.com
STUDY REVEALS POOR DISCLOSURE MAY BE HAZARDOUS TO THE HEALTH
OF NEW ECONOMY COMPANIES
PALO ALTO, CA 24 October, 2000 Internet and technology startups fail to deliver information crucial to the institutional investment decision making process — key operational information that provides insight into future performance potential, according to a new international study released today by Shelley Taylor & Associates. The research presents country by country reporting differences and also shows where Old Economy companies fall short in their annual reports.
The findings of Full Disclosure 2000, based on more than 100 proprietary evaluation criteria established through interviews with the world's most influential money managers, indicates that neither New Economy companies Nor Old Economy companies give investors what they want and need. For example, strategy ranked in the top ten of investor information needs in 1996 and 1998, yet only 40% percent of New Economy companies (vs. 62% of global 1000 Old Economy) surveyed discussed it in their annual reports, a primary disclosure document.
"While the internet has created a new medium of communication, it has not created the heavily over-touted New Economics," says Shelley Taylor, publisher of the study. "The New Economy, in which companies can operate for years without even a hope of profits, is an illusion. For the last five years investors have relaxed some of their investment criteria while new industry metrics have become clear. But recent market uncertainty now necessitates that investors remove their rose colored glasses and that New Economy companies come of age."
Taylor adds, "Companies that fail to communicate concrete strategies and tactics for the future seriously jeopardize investor confidence, future financial performance and ultimately share price. Annual reports came out in March and April, about the time the current bear market began. There is probably some connection!"
Both old and new companies have much to learn. Recent startups are better at talking about their business activities but must learn the lessons that have been hard-earned by their older and wiser peers. Mature companies also have important lessons to learn from their entrepreneurial and experimental cousins, the start-ups of the last five years.
Published every two years since 1992, Full Disclosure 2000, an international study of company reporting contrasts the disclosure practices of New Economy companies (those that have gone public in the last five years) with Old Economy companies (drawn primarily from the Global 1000). The sample includes companies from the US, UK, France, Germany, Scandinavia and others.
Shelley Taylor & Associates is a management consulting and business publishing firm focusing on management quality issues, with offices in the United States and the United Kingdom. Other publications include Click-Here Commerce 2000, an international study the success factors of e-commerce, and Return to Sender, a study of online order fulfillment. For more information contact 1-650-473-6514 (US) or 44-207-243-3438(UK), or visit our web site at www.infofarm.com.
Note: Executive Summary is available to journalists upon request
Shelley Taylor & Associates is an international management consulting and business publishing firm.