Early market-facing release of summarized annual results before the full annual report is issued.
A preliminary announcement is an early release of summarized annual financial results before the full annual report or full filed statement package is published.
It matters because markets often react to the first official summary of profit, loss, and other key metrics well before the full reporting package is available.
A preliminary announcement often includes:
summarized profit or loss information
selected balance-sheet or cash-flow highlights
brief commentary on performance
key year-over-year changes
The exact scope varies by market practice and listing rules.
A preliminary announcement is early and abbreviated.
An annual report is the fuller year-end reporting package with broader detail and disclosure.
Annual Report: The fuller reporting package issued later.
Financial Reporting: The broader discipline of publishing financial information.
Quarterly Report: A periodic report released during the year rather than at final annual-result announcement time.