2008 marks the year during which all UK listed companies will follow the Disclosure and Transparency Rules (DTR). Financial reporting throughout the year is affected by the DTR in various ways, for example the new interim management statements required during the first and second six months of the year, more detailed and extensive requirements for half-yearly financial reports, including compliance with IAS 34 ‘Interim Financial Reporting’, and shorter reporting deadlines for half-yearly and annual reports.

This publication considers the impact of the DTR on half-yearly financial reports by reviewing the half-yearly financial reports of the first companies caught by the new rules.1 It analyses how companies are dealing with the new requirements and compares, where possible, the results of this survey to previous years.

The findings are, in short, that companies need to do more to comply with the new rules.

• 72 of the 289 companies (25%) surveyed did not present a responsibility statement in their half-yearly financial reports. This statement is now required by the DTR for all half-yearly financial reports of listed companies.
• Most companies published their half-yearly financial report within the two months’ reporting deadline and took on average 51 days to report. Only four companies (1%) failed to meet the shorter new deadline, publishing their half-yearly financial reports up to seven days late.

For further information, download our publication Surveying the first half-yearly financial reports under the new rules. (PDF 1699KB)