Interim reports are summary statements that are usually prepared in semi-annual format in the UK. Until the EU’s Transparency Directive was put into practice in the UK in 2007, there was no legal necessity for companies to provide interim financial reports. (Note 1) Instead such preparation was only a regulatory requirement of the London Stock Exchange. The responsibility on companies listed on the London Stock Exchange to provide these financial reports was first prepared as an suggestion in 1964, to meet the requirements for updates by financial analysts (May, 1971). In 1973, this advice to provide the market with interim information became a requirement for the admission of stocks and securities to be listed on the stock Exchange (Lunt, 1982). This study investigates the preparation of interim reports, and accounting standards for interim reporting. Also, this study discusses the main purpose of interim reports, the methods of preparation and the benefits of reporting frequency
