Worldscope Database Datatype Definitions Guide

35. WHAT IS A FAST UPDATE AND WHAT BENEFITS DO THESE UPDATES HAVE FOR
TIMELINESS?
Issue 6
Frequently Asked Questions
The Fast Update consists of a subset of 350 Financial Statement items and ratios,
which are generally updated within 5-10 days of receipt of the annual filing or annual
report This follows the update of preliminary data from news sources which is
targeted for 72 hours from report. The Fast Update was introduced by Worldscope to
improve the timely provision of key data, especially at peak times when it is not
possible to fully update all annual reports on the day of receipt.
Generally, companies will:
1. first issue a Press Release with very summarized financials possibly followed
by
2. a preliminary report (for example: the Regulatory News Service in the U.K.,
BALO in France and Tanshin filings for Tokyo listed companies)
3. And finally the full audited Annual Report.
Worldscope captures and constantly refreshes Fast Update items as more detailed
information becomes available. The pattern of Worldscope updates is as follows:
1. Press Release information is captured on Worldscope, targeted within 48
hours of publication.
2. Fast Update, sourced from the 10K or annual report, 10 days.
3. Worldscope full updates are completed from the audited Annual Report.
Priority is given to companies which are index constituents, companies with
indicators of market interest and/or with high market capitalization.
36. HOW CAN I IDENTIFY FULL AND FAST UPDATES ON WORLDSCOPE?
Worldscope field 07034 - Indicator – Data Update can be used to determine if the
update for a given period is Preliminary, FAST or Final. This indicator is available on
a historic basis.
Worldscope also contains three current fields to help you distinguish these updates.
Field 07013 Year of Fast Update contains the latest year for which Fast Update
information is available e.g. “2006”.
Field 07016 Latest Annual Updated contains the latest year for which the latest
Worldscope full update is available, e.g. “2006”.
Field 07035 Latest Interim Date
37. WHAT DATA IS AVAILABLE FOR IPOs- E.G. NEWLY LISTED COMPANIES?
A newly listed company or IPO may provide insufficient data in the prospectus to
populate a detailed update. In this instance, Worldscope will add the company to the
database with the level of financial data provided (may only be a few items) until more
detailed information is published by the company concerned.
38. WHAT IS A LIMITED DATA SET COMPANY?
Companies that do not meet the criteria for fully detailed update on Worldscope, on
the basis of Market Capitalization or other criteria (see Question 8 above) may be
added with a Limited Data Set of information. This subset is similar to the Fast
Update subset outlined in Frequently Asked Question 37 above and detailed in the
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