Sixty per cent of Canadian publicly traded companies disclosed cash flow in the fourth quarter 2001 versus 50% a year ago, according to a new study by Canada NewsWire

“The increasing trend of reporting cash flow in quarterly earnings suggests that public companies are increasingly adopting recommendations by Canadian securities regulators to provide more comprehensive disclosure information to the investing public,” said Eva Spanoyannis, earnings editor, Canada NewsWire.

“In the new Enron era, investor confidence in financial reporting is at an all time low and the practice of companies providing comprehensive financial information is just one way to regain investor confidence.”

Further analysis of earnings in Canada’s construction and building industry revealed significant gains in Q4 2001. Earnings, revenues and cash flow from operations increased by 9.8%, 13.5% and 53% respectively, compared to Q4 2000.

Industry participants attribute the gains to increased demand for new homes, bolstered by record low mortgage and lending rates coupled with a shortage of new housing.