The Annual Report to the Shareholders is an excellent primary source of information about a company. Typically glossy and appealing, it describes the current state of the company in a manner designed to attract consumers and investors. Modern annual reports contain an overview of the company’s operations along with financial statements that provide a snapshot of the company’s financial condition. The Bruno Library provides access to company annual reports in several ways, detailed below. The latest annual report for a company should be available at the company’s website, usually in a section of the site called “Investor Relations.”
Dates of CoverageDescriptionLink
Latest 20 yearsOneSource database offers profiles of U.S. and international companies, including their annual reports. From the company profile, click on “Annual Reports” in the left menu to see up to 20 years of reports.OneSource
Latest 20 yearsMergent Online database contains profiles of U.S. and international companies, both active and inactive. Click on the Reports tab in the company profile to view up to 20 years of annual reports.Mergent Online
1925 – presentMergent Archives offers over a million historical documents related to U.S., Canadian, and European companies, some dating back to the mid-1800’s. Company annual reports in Mergent Archives go back as far as 1925.Mergent Archives
1844 – presentProQuest Historical Annual Reports database contains the annual reports of about 800 Fortune 500 and other companies.ProQuest Historical Annual Reports
1975 – 1995The Bruno Library’s microfiche collection of corporate reports contains annual reports and 10-Ks of companies traded on the New York and American Stock Exchanges from 1975 through 1995.  Stored in the University Libraries Archival Facility.
1983 – 1985The Bruno Library has a small collection of microfiche of annual reports of international companies for the period 1983 through 1985.  Stored in the University Libraries Archival Facility.
Late 1800s – 1980The Historical Annual Reports collection of the Angelo Bruno Business Library is comprised of paper copies of the annual reports of approximately 1900 American companies. Reports for Alabama companies are available to 2010. Annual reports are shelved near the spiral staircase on floors 1 & 2. Some annual reports are located in the University Libraries Archival Facility, and requests can be made to have those delivered to the Bruno Library for in-library use only. Contact a librarian for additional help.Historical Annual Reports Collection