What must the half-yearly financial report contain, and when is it due?

Every issuer of shares or debt securities within the Law publishes a half-yearly financial report covering the first six months of its financial year, as soon as possible and no later than three months after that half-year ends. The report stays publicly available for at least 10 years. Both periods were lengthened on 8 April 2016 by Law 35(I)/2016, which transposed Directive 2013/50/EU: before then the deadline was two months and the availability period five years. Issuers that are exempt from periodic reporting, such as States and issuers only of high-denomination debt, do not publish one (see Who is exempt from periodic reporting, and who must report payments to governments?).

The report has three parts: interim financial statements, an interim management report, and responsibility statements. The statements are signed on the same basis as for the annual report: by the board members and by the CEO and the CFO insofar as each is not on the board, naming each person and function. The exam material repeats its annual-report wording that the CEO and CFO sign if both are not board members. Since 2007 the Law has said only 'if they are not members of the board', which is best read person by person. The signatories confirm, to the best of their knowledge, that the interim statements were prepared under IAS 34 and show a true and fair view, and that the interim management report gives a fair review of the items listed below.

The interim financial statements follow the international financial reporting standard on interim reports, IAS 34, Interim Financial Reporting. Cyprus applies IAS 34 to every issuer. The Transparency Directive requires it only of issuers that prepare consolidated accounts, and lets the others publish a condensed balance sheet and profit and loss account, so on this point Cyprus asks for more than the Directive.

An audit or review of the half-yearly statements is not compulsory. If the statements were audited or reviewed, the auditor's report or review report is reproduced in full in the half-yearly report. If they were neither audited nor reviewed, or the auditor refused to issue a report, the issuer must state that fact. The exam material puts this statement in the interim report and ties it to a missing audit or a refusal, without mentioning a review. In the Law it goes in the half-yearly financial report itself, and a missing audit calls for it only if there was no review either.

The Cyprus list is longer than the Directive's. At a minimum, the interim management report must contain: an economic analysis of the results detailed enough for readers to follow how they developed over the half-year; a note of any income from extraordinary or non-recurring activities; a comparison with the same half-year of the previous financial year, detailed enough to identify and explain the changes; the important events of the first six months and their effect on the interim financial statements; the main risks and uncertainties for the second half of the year; and any other material information that affects, or could affect, readers' assessment of profits or losses, prospects and trends, such as winning or losing significant contracts or partnerships.

Share issuers must also report the related-party transactions of the first six months, under IAS 24. At EU level, Commission Directive 2007/14/EC sets a minimum of 'major' related-party transactions. Debt-only issuers do not have this item. The half-yearly report is the only interim report the Law requires. Until 8 April 2016 share issuers also published interim management statements, or quarterly reports in their place, and issuers that had not published their annual report within two months of the year end published an 'indication of results'. Law 35(I)/2016 repealed all three rules.