Company Information Guide: Company information

It can be helpful to consider what type of company you are seeking information on:
Public listed / quoted

• Trade stocks or securities on an exchange (e.g. the ASX). 
• Are required to disclose information about their operations and performance, this means a lot of information is available in the above databases and on company websites. 

Private / proprietary / unlisted

• Not always required by law to disclose information for public inspection, therefore they can be harder to research.
• Resources to research private companies include some of the above databases (as indicated), news sources and company websites.
• In Australia, large proprietary companies are required to lodge financial information for public inspection, therefore information is available in the databases.
• Subsidiary
• A subsidiary company is one that is owned by another company.
• Financial information on a subsidiary is sometimes not available and it is necessary to read the reports of the parent company.

Non-profit organisations / Not-For-Profit / NGO

• Can fall into a number of categories including associations and not-for-profit unlisted public companies.
• For information on a non-profit organisation, in addition to the databases try the  Australia Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission - government regulator, with basic financial and company information for registered charities.
• Government
• IBISWorld has company profiles for many Australian government bodies

Some company information is found directly via the company's website, however there are other sources of information about companies. Publicly listed company information is the easiest to find, but some of our specialised sources will contain information on privately listed companies.

Industry profiles can also be used to look at entire industries and will outline that industry's current performance, outlook, major companies and key statistics.  Some sources include data that you can download and manipulate.