Why do public companies publish annual reports?

A company that is publicly owned is required to issue an annual report to stockholders. The annual report includes a wide variety of financial information and a discussion and analysis of operations by management. Many of the financial disclosures found in an annual report are required by regulatory bodies such as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). A typical annual report will contain sections on financial statements, letter to shareholders, footnotes to the financial statements, and an auditor's report.