Company Information

This guide provides resources for accessing company information. 

Company information is vital for understanding a specific industry sector. Company information provides an overview of a company's history, its financial background and projections, its strengths and weaknesses and its future potential in the market place.
 

ABI/INFORM Collection is the most comprehensive business database on the market today. 

Follow these steps to search for company information on ABI/Inform:

1. Open ABI/Inform

2. Click "Advanced Search" --- type company name  -- then select "Company Type - CTY" from the drop down menu -- and, then press the "search button".  

   

    

    

3. If you know the company's ticker symbol, click "Advanced search" --  type the ticker number -- then select "ticker symbol" from the drop down menu -- press the "search button". Note: Use Google to search for a company's ticker symbol (Google search example: Starbucks ticker symbol or Starbucks ticker symbols)
4. If you know the company's NAICS code, click "Advanced search" --type the NAICS --then select "NAICS code" from the drop down menu --  press the "search button". Note: Use Google to search for a company's NAIC (Google search example: Starbucks NAIC or Starbucks NAICs).

Passport-Euromonitor is an excellent resource for conducting market research, industry analyses, or seeking out economic data. 

Follow these steps to search for company information on Passport-Euromonitor:

1. Open Passport-Euromonitor
2. The Terms and Conditions page will appear -- click "Accept" to access the database
3. For company reports, click the "Companies" tab on the upper tool bar
4. If you need assistance navigating the database, click the "Help" tab to access the easy to use "Help Guide and Videos." Start with these short videos in this order:
   1. The Search Page video
   2. The "Results List" video
   3. The "Enhanced Search" video

Note: To analyse the data set and to download it as an excel sheet or PDF, view the short video "Working with Statistics." 
 

• Business Source Ultimate (BSU): provides a broad range of resources on company information.
• IBIS World: Contains a comprehensive collection of Industry Market Research and Industry Risk Ratings on Canadian and American industries.
• Regional Business News: Provides ultimate coverage for full-text business publications, on a regional level, for the Canadian provinces and the United States, including company news reports and releases.
• Canadian Business & Current Affairs (CBCA) has broad Canadian coverage of current affairs and news reports on a variety of subjects. Search by keywords, company or organization name, location, and NAICS code.

Annual reports are integral to a Company's history, profile and financial performance. 

These resources provide invaluable tips on how to understand the elements within an annual report:

• Investopedia: How to Efficiently Read an Annual Report
• Investor Channel (Youtube video, 2016): How to Read Annual Reports: SEC Form 10-K

Note: not all companies, such as privately-held companies, are required to make their annual reports available to the public. Search a corporation's website to see if one is available through their site. Also, try UCW Library's databases or the UCanSearch box.

Note:  privately-owned companies may also be owned by a publicly-trading parent company. The publicly-trading parent company's annual report may provide insights and financial information on their privately-held companies.

For a comprehensive analysis of an annual report, you may also need additional corporate information, such as a SWOT Analysis and/or a company report(s) (i.e. A Marketline Company Profile report).

Use the following databases to further support your understanding of a company's annual report: ABI/Inform Collection, Business Source Ultimate (BSU), IBIS World and Passport-Euromonitor.

Not all companies update their financial records publicly. 

Below are examples of different kinds of financial record publications in various companies:

• Companies that regularly and publicly update their financial records: In these cases, the companies' websites are valuable sources of information. Some examples include:
  • Shaw, Inc.
  • Loblaws
  • Best Buy
  • Worksafe BC
  • Terry Fox Foundation
  • BC Ferries
  • RBC
  • BMO
  • Aritizia
  • etc...
• Companies with selected financial records: In these cases, the companies may post some information on their website publicaly. Some examples include:
  • Telus
  • Sherwin Williams
  • LuluLemon
  • Electronic Artcs
  • etc....
• Companies where financial records are available through third parties: Keep in mind that in these cases, access to these records and reliability are not guaranteed. Some examples include:
  • Staples
  • London Drugs

• City of Vancouver: Business Licences: A valid business licence is required in order to operate a business in the City of Vancouver. The website provides a dataset for looking up Vancouver business licence information from 1997 to the current year.
• Government of British Columbia: BC Stats: Provincial government's leader in statistical and economic research.
• Government of British Columbia: Business, Industry & Trade: Find data and analysis related to businesses and specific industries in B.C.
• Government of Canada: Directories of Canadian Companies: You can search for competitors and also check a company's incorporation status.
• Government of Canada: Financial Performance Data:  A tool for benchmarking your financial reports with others in your sector. 
  From the homepage, to view financial data and annual reports of various Canadian companies, click the tab "Popular reports". 
• Government of Canada: Industry Statistics: The site provides quantitative data for a large range of Canadian industries.
• Government of Canada: List of Charities (not-for-profit): basic search: This site provides a Charity's contact information, general activities and financial information. New to researching Charities? In the search box, try the following example: Food Banks Canada.
• Goverment of Canada: National Industry Organizations: A list of industries, associations and organizations. Topics are organized by news, trends, and issues within an industry.
• Government of Canada: Research and Business Intelligence: Site provides industry sector data, financial benchmarks, labour trends and business statistics.
• Government of Canada: Search for Federal Corporation: Searches can be performed by Corporate Name, Corporation Number, or Business Number (BN).
  • For search tips, click here.
• Government of Canada: Statistics Canada: National statistical office for key information on Canada's economy, society and environment.
• SEDAR: Use the SEDAR Portal to obtain SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) filings for Canadian companies publicly traded in the US (annual reports, financial statements, prospectuses, etc.). This Portal also includes brief issuer profiles.
  • In the SEDAR portal, start with the "Search Database" tab to search by company name. Try searching Lululemon.
    Next, Try the "Issuer Profile" tab, this search function uses an Alphabetical list (Click "L" -- then search for the company name -- Lululemon)
  • For additional help, use the "Site Help" -- Site Structure tab