French to English: Annual Reports, Part 1

If you're a shareholder of a company, you regularly receive the financial statements and annual reports without the need to request for them.  And if you're not a shareholder but are interested in knowing how a company performed in the last year because you're thinking of investing, you call their Investor Relations Department and request financial reports.  Or you can consult an independent financial analyst like Hoover's or Bloomberg's (your broker is also a possible source) and read what they have to say about the company's financial health.  Many companies also post their annual reports on their web site.  In official bilingual countries like Canada, companies publish their annual reports in both French and English.

 

FRENCH	ENGLISH
rapport annuel	annual report
profil de la société	corporate profile
compte de résultats consolidé	consolidated income statement

How many of you read the annual reports that arrive in the mail?  Those who have a keen interest in the company's performance or who bought a significant number of shares would probably read the annual report from cover to cover; others would scan it without eyeballing the figures while others would simply tuck them away. 

For most people, however, annual reports are like legal documents (a.k.a. "boring").  They're standard compliance reports that companies must submit to securities regulators once a year. 

I've read very few annual reports over the years.  I read them not because I'm a numbers freak, but because they caught my attention.  Let's face it, how many annual reports are written in a very engaging manner with simple but effective English?  Even annual reports of creativity-oriented companies like advertising and marketing lack a certain something.

An annual report must go beyond the concept of financial reporting; it must tell a compelling story.  Readers should feel that they're reading a true story, not learning a foreign language.

FRENCH	ENGLISH
intégration des bénéfices non-répartis	consolidated retained earnings
revenus	revenues
gains nets	net earnings
bénéfice net par action	net earnings per share

The Annual Reports Library (http://www.zpub.com/sf/arl/arl-tips.html) say that annual reports contain 9 sections:  (a)  chairman's (or president's) message, (b)  sales and marketing, (c)   financial highlights, (d)  management discussion and analysis, (e) auditor's statement, (f) financial statements, (g) subsidiaries, brands and addresses, (h) directors and officers and (i) stock price.  Items (e) to (i) are required.  The Securities and Exchange Commission requires (d) and financial analysts, according to the Annual Reports Library, insist on item (i) - stock price.

FRENCH	ENGLISH
message du président du conseil d'administration	chairman's message
marketing et ventes	sales and marketing
points saillants	financial highlights
rapport de gestion	management discussion and analysis
déclaration du vérificateur	auditor statement
états financiers	financial statements
filiales, marques et adresses	subsidiaries, brands and addresses
directeurs et dirigeants	directors and officers
cours de l'action	stock price

More annual report terminology in my next blog!