1. © Black Sun Plc 2007 Company Secretaries Conference and Exhibition 2007 Black Sun plc Narrative Reporting October 2007

2. © Black Sun Plc 2007 Company Secretaries Conference and Exhibition 2007 Agenda Principles of good reporting Best practice examples Benefits of increasing transparency

3. © Black Sun Plc 2007 Company Secretaries Conference and Exhibition 2007 Principles of good reporting Reflect a director’s view of business Focus on matters relevant to ‘stakeholders’ Have a forward-looking orientation Complement and supplement financial statements Be comprehensive yet understandable Be balanced and neutral Be comparable over time

4. © Black Sun Plc 2007 Company Secretaries Conference and Exhibition 2007 Strategy Best practice examples

5. © Black Sun Plc 2007 Company Secretaries Conference and Exhibition 2007 Strategy: Imperial Tobacco

6. © Black Sun Plc 2007 Company Secretaries Conference and Exhibition 2007 Strategy: BG Group

7. © Black Sun Plc 2007 Company Secretaries Conference and Exhibition 2007 Strategy: Cadbury Schweppes

8. © Black Sun Plc 2007 Company Secretaries Conference and Exhibition 2007 KPIs Best practice examples

9. © Black Sun Plc 2007 Company Secretaries Conference and Exhibition 2007 KPIs: Centrica

10. © Black Sun Plc 2007 Company Secretaries Conference and Exhibition 2007 KPIs: BAT

11. © Black Sun Plc 2007 Company Secretaries Conference and Exhibition 2007 Principal risks and uncertainties Best practice examples

12. © Black Sun Plc 2007 Company Secretaries Conference and Exhibition 2007 Principal risks: Carphone Warehouse

13. © Black Sun Plc 2007 Company Secretaries Conference and Exhibition 2007 Principal risks: Friends Provident

14. © Black Sun Plc 2007 Company Secretaries Conference and Exhibition 2007 Forward-looking orientation Best practice examples

15. © Black Sun Plc 2007 Company Secretaries Conference and Exhibition 2007 Forward-look: BAE

16. © Black Sun Plc 2007 Company Secretaries Conference and Exhibition 2007 Forward-look: ITV

17. © Black Sun Plc 2007 Company Secretaries Conference and Exhibition 2007 Step change in the overall quality of reporting Although some have encountered difficulties, many have embraced new requirements Disclosures moving to meet best practice standards Narrative becoming clearer and more cohesive Greater alignment between market environment, strategy, drivers of value and KPIs, risks and future outlook Overall communications becoming much more accessible Best practice summary

18. © Black Sun Plc 2007 Company Secretaries Conference and Exhibition 2007 Internal benefits of increasing transparency ‘From the inside out’

19. © Black Sun Plc 2007 Company Secretaries Conference and Exhibition 2007 86% agree that clearer linkages between strategy, business objectives, KPIs, risks and future goals were realised 66% believe that reporting KPIs has helped the Board become clearer on which KPIs are right for their business 62% felt there was greater alignment between the Board on principal risks Benefits of increasing transparency

20. © Black Sun Plc 2007 Company Secretaries Conference and Exhibition 2007 In summary Statutory obligations altering how companies are communicating Recent research confirms considerable improvement Better narrative reporting can lead to better run businesses Market pressure probably as likely as regulatory scrutiny to move companies towards further disclosure Reports are potent platform to reinforce and communicate the investment story A lot has changed and a lot will continue to change…

21. © Black Sun Plc 2007 Company Secretaries Conference and Exhibition 2007 Opportunity not Obligation

22. © Black Sun Plc 2007 Company Secretaries Conference and Exhibition 2007 Thank you spilot@blacksunplc.com