Study a Company through its Website

Investors usually get a company's information from media, public announcement and research reports. In addition, they want to know the company in various channels. For retail companies, investors can have firsthand experience in its products and services. Fairwood #52 is an example of how investors can study a company's retail outlets and actually make decent profits from it. After the fast food company successfully re-branded itself and renovated its restaurants, its profitability and share price picked up. Warren Buffett likes drinking Coca-Cola and put his money where his mouth is. Some investors even go to flat sale venues not to buy flats but to learn more about property developers' business.

By business nature, not all companies can offer firsthand experience. For example, Li & Fung #494 serves corporations. You cannot tell which Ryobi power driller has the motors made by Johnson Electric #179 in it and which one doesn't. Hutchison Whampoa #13 runs businesses worldwide. You probably shop at Watson's and Park'N Shop, but that doesn't give you any idea about the performance of 3 UK on the other side of the globe.

Company websites are handy channels to learn about companies. Almost every listed company has a website. If there hasn't been such a rule as "Don't invest in a company that doesn't have a website," i would be glad to invent one.

Company websites cater not only investors, but also customers and business partners. Some websites play a significant role in recruiting talents. American undergraduates ranked PricewaterhouseCoopers, Microsoft and Ernst & Young, which run award-winning websites, among the top-ten ideal employers. There are other reasons why the students picked these companies, but you would probably surf the company's website before you go to a job interview of that company. The Dow Chemical Company has even constructed a virtual "help center" in its website to assist employees affected by Hurricane Katrina.

Most of the websites of Hong Kong companies are alike, containing general company introduction, products and services information, financial announcements, company news and contact numbers and addresses. These functions serve the main purposes of a company website. However, i found some websites more impressive than the others.

In a three-and-a-half-minute video shown in Hutch's website, viewers take a tour of the conglomerate's businesses. Through the speculative filming backed by narrative with a deep male voice, investors learn what the company is doing. In the show, Hutch defines excellence in its own way and triumphs its global presence. Although the show is more like an ad than a documentary, it helps people visualize the various businesses and learn what the company thinks its strengths are -- Big, Big, Big!

Sun Hung Kai Properties #16 runs a book corner in its website, recommending readings for people at different age ranges, especially for children. What do bricks and mortars have to do with readings? i guess the book thing targets young couples with a kid or two to teach. They are keen buyers of flats. Newspaper gossips say the Kwok family likes reading spiritual books. SHKP brothers are no empty-hearted businesspeople, or at least they do not want to look that way. The retreat from the Hunghom Peninsula conflicts, for the sake of environment protection and politics, might give a trace.

HSBC's #5 website has a function rarely found in those of other companies -- "Increase font". The default front is clear enough for me and in fact most computer set-up allows users to make the images larger. The "increase font" function, i guess, is to assist older Internet users. Actually, the bank highlights its retirement planning services on its homepage. Keep an eye on the fee income of the group, which would continue to be a growth driver.

Companies like to boast about their attention to customers. No one does it better than China Mobile #941 in company websites. This telecom carrier provides a "customer complaints" icon on the homepage, making handling customer complaints a special task besides general inquiries filed to the "contact us" section. i am not sure whether the complaints will eventually be handled properly, but this state-controlled oligopoly sends a vivid message -- "We welcome complaints".

On the other end of the spectrum, some websites need improvements. i don't like those website decorated with too much moving graphics and flashes, which slows my computer. That smokescreen hides up information, although i have heard that some people like the "grand-looking" of websites and feel more comfortable to deal with the webmaster.

Also, i feel annoyed when windows keep popping up, so does my vulnerable laptop. It is understandable for internet portals, such as Quam, to pop up windows for advertising purposes. But it isn't even funny for company websites to have pop-up windows.

Last but not least, some slogans on the websites are confusing. Guoco #53 is one of the most curious companies, i believe. Investors want to know what the company will do with the sales proceeds of Dao Heng Bank in 2000. Since then, it has become like an investment holding company. On the homepage was a slogan, "Your future is our future." It helps stir up more questions. It sounds like my parents talking to me in some intimate moments. Even so, i would rather not hear that.

Finally, information in company websites, albeit being official, bears lower regulatory obligations than that of annual reports and public announcements. Also, bear in mind that some might be outdated depending on how frequent the company updates the site. It is reckless to invest in a company simply because you like the website of that company. But as investment decisions are results of weighted considerations of many different factors, websites have become an important showroom for companies.

Sep 22, 2005
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