Some say the art of letter writing is dead. But that isn’t the case, as far as the UK body which polices corporate statements is concerned. In the year to March the Financial Reporting Review Panel wrote letters to 146 companies, a 30% increase on the previous year, inquiring about the quality of information in annual and interim statements.

Nineteen of the letters were to FTSE 100 companies: although the panel declines to name names.