How to contact companies for clarifications and additional information?

The current article in this series provides responses related to:

• How to contact companies to get more information/clarification about their business?
• Should we attend AGMs of companies to get additional information?
• How to get the half-yearly balance sheet

How to contact companies to get more information/clarification about their business?

Hi Sir,

As you have mentioned in the analysis article on Indo Count:

Read: Indo Count Industries Research Report

“While analyzing the related party transactions section of the FY2016 annual report (pg. 106), the investor would notice that Indo Count Industries Limited has outstanding receivables of about ₹122 cr from its subsidiaries. The key subsidiary among these is Indo Count Global Inc. (USA). It might indicate that the company is receiving money from its customers in the USA, however, the wholly owned subsidiary in the USA is not remitting the funds to India.

An investor should monitor the comparative receivables position closely and understand whether the company has any Capex plans for the USA, which might be leading it to hold funds overseas. Otherwise, keeping cash overseas, which would be earning very low returns on deposits when compared to India, might not be a very good decision. The sustained holding of cash overseas without utilization can also be a sign of caution, which might require the investor to do an in-depth assessment by the investor.”

My question is

1. How to figure out which subsidiary (or) associate owes how much money when the company has more than one subsidiary and more than one associates.
2. How to draw conclusions like money is with USA subsidiary and it is not remitting funds to INDIA?
3. I see that even the UK subsidiary is holding 100%. So how to know which subsidiary is not remitting funds?

Thanks, 

Author’s Response:

Hi,

Thanks for writing to us!

The information sought by you in your queries is usually present in the annual report of the company.

Also read: Understanding the Annual Report Of A Company

However, in case, an investor finds that the information is not in the annual report, then she should write to the company about it (investor’s relations department).

Usually, for most of the companies, the company secretary is the person-in-charge of the investors’ relations. However, the website of the company will have the email and phone number details of the concerned person-in-charge.

An investor might face a situation where their first email is not responded to by the company. However, our experience has been that most of the companies provide a response after one follow-up (email or phone call). Therefore, if the investor does not get a prompt response from the company, then she should not lose heart and instead follow it up with the company.

Also read: Why Management Assessment is the Most Critical Factor in Stock Investing?

All the best for your investing journey!

Regards

Dr Vijay Malik

Related Query:

Dear Dr Vijay

Greetings!

I have a query on KMC Speciality Hospitals (India) Ltd. I tried to get it resolved from the company secretary (CS) of the company.

Below is the response I got from their office. The CS is asking my shareholding details before answering my queries. Is it that they want to see if I have a substantial shareholding? Although, I have shared my details with them but to no avail. Should it be taken as a big negative?

Thanks & Regards,

Author’s Response:

Hi,

Thanks for writing to us!

It is usually a good idea to share your DP ID details right in the first email so that the company can ascertain whether you are a current shareholder or not. We do not think that they would want to know whether you are a large shareholder because they would already the details of their large shareholders.

As you have now shared the requested details to them, therefore, you may follow up with them a couple of times. If they do not respond despite follow up, then you may take a decision accordingly considering any future scenario when you need any important information and the company may not provide it.

Further advised reading: How to do Business Analysis of Hospitals

All the best for your investing journey!

Regards,

Dr. Vijay Malik

What kind of additional information can we ask from the company?

Thanks for the wonderful article! Indeed a good one. FYI, I am your big fan.

You mentioned, “For any clarity, we should always call the company secretary or investor’s relations officer of the company before we commit our hard-earned money to any stock.”

What kind of information should we ask the company secretary? As a retail investor, would she entertain us?

Please share your experience of calling the company secretary, if any.

Thanks in advance!

Author’s Response:

Hi,

Thanks for writing to me!

You may approach them for any doubt that you have after going through the annual report.

Once, we had approached Haldyn Glass Limited, where once the company secretary arranged a call back by a person in senior management who explained us their business model in a very simple and lucid manner. However, on another occasion, we did not receive the required information.

Therefore, the response that you would get would differ from the company to the company and within the same company from person to person. However, if the investor does not call the company, then the doubts would not be clarified at all.

Hope it clarifies your queries!

All the best for your investing journey!

Regards

Vijay

Should we attend AGMs of companies to get additional information?

Hi Vijay,

I want to attend the AGM of one particular company, which constitutes a significant part of my portfolio.

1. Would it be helpful?
2. Will I get a chance to ask the questions?
3. Will it provide me added information about company fundamentals?
4. Is it a great way to meet a fellow investor?

Author’s Response:

Hi,

Thanks for writing to us. We appreciate that you are taking charge of your equity investments and are planning to invest time and effort to find out more information about the company.

The best way to experience something is to do it personally. Therefore, we believe that going to one AGM will give you an answer to all of your queries and you may decide to go to future AGM of different companies on your own.

We have not attended any AGM until now. The primary reason is that we ask clarifications from the companies over email as and when we need to ask them instead of waiting for the AGM to get information.

All the best for your investing journey!

Regards

Dr Vijay Malik

How to get the half-yearly balance sheet

Hi Vijay

Thanks for sharing your knowledge. It is really great work.

One quick thing- I was not able to get the half-yearly balance sheet available in a downloadable format? Any suggestions where to look for?

Author’s Response:

Hi,

Thanks for writing to me! I am happy that you found the article useful.

Companies publish half-yearly balance sheet is presented in its summary format as a pdf document along with the Sept quarter results. Currently, I do not know of any source, which might provide it in excel format. In case, you come to know any such source, then please intimate us as well.

Read: Understanding the Quarterly Results Filings of Companies

All the best for your investing journey!

Regards

Vijay

Importance of conference calls and investor presentations

Hello sir,

I wanted to know how to use conference calls and other investment presentations on BSE as a part of our research. Do they matter a lot or is there any other way out?

Author’s Response:

Hi,

Thanks for writing to me!

Conference calls and investor presentations are essential to understanding the current status of business/ongoing projects etc. They are also helpful in understanding the short-term tweaks in the overall company strategy, which the company might do to tackle intermittent problems etc.

Read: How to Monitor Stocks in Your Portfolio

All the best for your investing journey!

Regards,

Vijay

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Disclaimer

Registration status with SEBI:

I am registered with SEBI as a research analyst.

Details of financial interest in the Subject Company:

I do not own stocks of the companies mentioned above in my portfolio at the date of writing this article.