Research Guides: Finance Subject Guide: Find company information

Company information

Public & private company information - Library databases to use

The following library subscribed databases provide information on public or private companies.

ABI/INFORM Collection This link opens in a new window
A comprehensive business research database with coverage of thousands of full-text journals, dissertations, working papers, key business and economics periodicals, and trade publications.
Click here for User Guide

Dates covered: 1971 - Current
Concurrent users: Unlimited
Provider: ProQuest
Full text: Some
Business Source Ultimate This link opens in a new window
On the top menu bar, click "Company Information" to find brief company information such as corporate family trees, revenue, top executives.
Also on the top menu bar, under More, click "Company Profiles" to find detailed company information e.g. business description, history, SWOT analysis, top competitors.
Dates covered: 1886 - Current
Concurrent users: Unlimited
Provider: EBSCOhost
Full text: Yes
Business Market Research Collection This link opens in a new window
Provides company, industry, economic and geopolitical market research from Hoover's Company Profiles, OxResearch, US and Worldwide Industry & Market Reports from Barnes Reports, and Snapshots.
Dates covered: 1986 - current
Concurrent users: Unlimited
Provider: ProQuest
Full text: Some
CSMAR 數據庫 This link opens in a new window
提供中國金融及經濟數據，包括股票、基金、債券、公司研究等不同系列。
Economic and financial data on China, including various subsets such as stock market, funds, bonds, and company research.
Dates covered: Varied
Concurrent users: Unlimited
Provider: 深圳希施玛数据科技有限公司
Full text: Yes
Factiva This link opens in a new window
Factive provides access to a large archive of news (including The Wall Street Journal).
On the top menu bar, click "Companies/Markets" to find companies or industry snapshot. This is a good place to check whether a company is listed (public) or unlisted (private). Other company information includes company news, business description, financial performance.
Click here for User Guide

Dates covered: Varied
Concurrent users: 5
Provider: Dow Jones
Full text: Yes
Statista This link opens in a new window
This database provides statistics on over 80,000 topics from more than 18,000 sources. It also includes statistics about a brand or company.
On the top menu bar, under Reports, click "Brands & Company Reports" to search for a company.
Dates covered: Various
Concurrent users: Unlimited
Provider: Statista GmbH
Full-text: Some
Warc This link opens in a new window
Case studies of company marketing campaigns can be found in this database.
Dates covered: Various
Concurrent users: Unlimited
Provider: Warc
Full-text: Yes
WisersOne 慧眼輿情 This link opens in a new window
Dates covered: 1998 - Current
Concurrent users: Unlimited
Provider: Wisers Information Limited
Full-text: Yes
中國上市公司文獻庫 China Listed Company Documents This link opens in a new window
中國上市公司 (包括A股, B股及H股）的資料，內容包括在深圳和上海證券市場的上市公司發佈的各類招股書、上市公告、中期報告、年終報告、重要決議等文獻資料。
Reports and corporate documents of companies listed in China.
Dates covered: 1993 - Current
Concurrent users: 5 user limit
Provider: China Infobank
Full-text: Yes

Public Companies

Public companies

The company website, government statistical department, and stock exchanges are good places to find information about public companies.

Companies Registry - Cyber Search Centre (HKSAR)
Find registered companies in Hong Kong. It includes the name history information of a registered company.
EDGAR - U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission
Provides free access of corporate information to public companies in the U.S., allowing you to search a company’s financial information and operations by reviewing registration statements, prospectuses and periodic reports filed on Forms 10-K and 10-Q. You can also find information about recent corporate events reported on Form 8-K but that a company does not have to disclose to investors.
HKExnews 香港交易所披露易
HKEx has established a dedicated issuer website solely for the dissemination of issuer information. The HKExnews website covers two main areas: Issuer-generated Information (e.g. company financial statements) & HKEx-generated Regulatory Issuer Information (e.g. status reports on delisting proceedings and suspensions).
上海證券交易所 - 披露
提供上交所上市公司信息。
深圳證券交易所 - 信息披露
提供深交所上市公司信息。

Private Companies

Private companies

Unlike public companies, private companies are not legally required to release information about themselves to the public. Therefore, information about private companies could be much harder to find. Apart from the library databases listed on top, here are other suggestions to look for information:

Company website: Depending on the company, some company websites are mainly used for selling products and services, whereas others may contain more information about the company itself. Larger private companies usually provide more information on its website than smaller private companies.

News: Searching for news of a particular company could help identify key developments. Other than free online search engines, you can also make good use of the Library databases listed above.

Industry/Professional Organizations: These are organizations dedicated to a specific field, and members are usually professionals who are currently working in that field. They may organize events/activities for its members, and issue trade publications (e.g. magazines, newsletters, journals) that contain the latest news and trends within the field. Other than free online search engines, the following Library database also helps you find industry information and trade publications: