Library Guides: Company Financial Statements: International Companies

USC Databases with Foreign Company Financials

Mergent Online This link opens in a new window
2 Ways to Search:
1. Basic (Homepage): search for a company and in the resulting company report, choose the COMPANY FINANCIALS tab. To limit for International companies, select the boxes for Active and Inactive International Company Database.
2. Advanced Search tab: select FINANCIALS in the blue sub-menu and specify financial criteria for your search. Note: Index tab allows you to search for companies trading on International exchanges.
Nexis Uni This link opens in a new window
Find Financial Statements within SEC Filings
2 Ways to Search:
1. Select Get Company Info and open COMPANY DOSSIER-->search and select company-->choose FINANCIALS Overview in left column (statements for last 3 years + key financial ratios)
2. Select Search By Content Type-->under COMPANIES directory, select SEC FILINGS-->specify company-->audited financials in 10-K and unaudited quarterly financials in 10-Q
Hoover's Online This link opens in a new window
Steps:
1. Home screen-->search and select company
2. Select the FINANCIALS drop-down menu from Company Index box to select a specific financial statement OR
3. Scroll down Company Report to VIEW FULL FINANCIALS in the Financial section
OR
Use Build-A-List to select companies by geography
Mergent Archives - Historical Annual Reports This link opens in a new window
US and International companies with annual reports dating back to 1800s

Additional Resources for Financial Information

AnnualReports.com
Contains annual reports for companies trading on London Stock Exchange and Toronto Stock Exchange.
Europe Investor Direct
Annual reports for certain foreign companies available for free
New Zealand Companies Office Register
Available for certain companies in NZ (limited availability, PDF format)
Search for and select Company by name-->select the DOCUMENTS tab-->scroll list for "Annual Financial Statements"
Investor Relations Information Network (IRIN)
Find past annual reports for some US and International companies
The Annual Reports Service
The service provides you with quick access to annual reports, interim reports, and other information on select companies

Points to Remember

Financial information for foreign companies may not be standardized or audited in accordance with US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (unless obtained through SEC Filing). Read Found in Translation: A Guide to Using Foreign Financial Statements by Susan M. Sorensen and Donald L. Kyle for issues to consider.

Foreign regulations often do not require companies to publicly disclose financial information, so rarely is the information available for free. There are resources for purchasing company financial information, which you may use at your own discretion.

RBA Company Financials & Annual Reports
A detailed directory of how to purchase company financial information for foreign companies
RBA Official Company Registers
A directory for foreign country company registries

International Companies Operating in the U.S.

SEDAR--Canadian Companies
SEDAR is basically the Canadian equivalent to the U.S.'s EDGAR. SEDAR contains all of the company filings required by the Canadian Securities Administration. SEDAR includes a couple of ways to search for filings, including searching by public company name or investment fund. New filings, such as new financial statements or new prospectuses, are also easily found.

Financial statements for international companies may be harder to obtain than those for U.S. companies for a few reasons.

International companies may not have the same filing requirements as U.S. companies.
Even if required to file, the frequency of filings may differ greatly from U.S. regulations.
The variations among countries makes it difficult to find one source to obtain financial statements for foreign companies.

If a foreign company trades on any of the U.S. exchanges, the SEC requires the company to file Form 20-F.

EDGAR--SEC Website
Access annual reports for foreign companies trading on U.S. exchanges by searching EDGAR for Form 20-F.
Company Spotlight from Investopedia
A free resource for annual reports that allows searching by company or industry. Contains reports from both US and international companies.
Company's Webpage
Most public companies provide annual report(s) and/or SEC filings on their websites. Look for INVESTOR RELATIONS (tip: often easier to use the Site Map)
Yahoo Finance
Foreign companies trading on exchanges
Search for company-->FINANCIALS in left column (individual links to each statement)