Abstract
The purpose of this article is to examine Bangladeshi individual investors' use of corporate annual reports and their perceptions of 18 annual report sections. The data reported in this study were collected through a questionnaire survey. The 316 responses received were analysed using descriptive statistics, the ANOVA test statistics, the chi(2) statistics, and the Student-Newman-Keuls multiple range test. The study reveals that just over one-third of the respondents regularly read annual reports of the companies in which they have investment. Trading frequency is not significant in affecting the readership behaviour of individual investors. Among the 18 annual report sections, traditional financial statements, namely the income statement, the balance sheet and the cash flow statement were the most read and important sections using both the rating and ranking assessment methods. Corporate environmental report, essay and pictorial on operations are the least read and the least important sections. Lack of time, lack of usefulness and lack of interest were attributable to individual investors' lack of readership of corporate annual report sections in Bangladesh.