Monday, May 24, 1999
I had a quiet weekend, a prerequisite for results week. On the Friday we gave out briefing packs containing the draft scripts, slides, presentations and Q&As. Monday was reserved for any last minute changes, which luckily were few. We also held a dress rehearsal involving our brokers, PR agency, CEO (Bill Alexander), CFO (David Luffrum) director of corporate affairs (Jonathan Russell) and myself. Before the announcement, we go through the presentation and the brokers question the directors. It lasts about one-and-a-half hours and then my team e-mails our PR agency the press release, which it then reformats for the stock exchange. Everything was approved and signed off by the CFO by 9:30, which was pretty good going.
The difference this time, was that we were also announcing our joint venture with Electricidade de Portugal (EdP). One of our core messages is the growth of our international business and we held a briefing with the Financial Times so the story would be published the morning of our results announcement.
Tuesday, May 25
I got into the office by 6:30 am and then went to Watermans Hall in the City to do a final check of the packs and slides. I noticed there were no jugs of water on the tables so I brought that to the caterer’s attention. This may seem like a small point but it’s important for us – they normally use bottled water.
The presentation went well. We had about 45 analysts and the results were above the consensus. (Group operating profit was up 8 percent). We also showed that we’re growing our non-regulatory areas. Afterwards, I headed back to the Cavendish Square office – our main HQ is in Reading – and fielded questions from analysts and the media. Our CEO and PR agency do one-on-one interviews with the media.
In the afternoon, we held a presentation for our 300 managers where the CEO discussed the results and their implications. It’s important that they’re well briefed and can communicate the message to their teams.
When I got home, I was fairly exhausted and had an early night.
Wednesday, May 26
One of the analysts produced a buy note on the company which made us all happy. We also read Anglian Water’s results because we’re interested in how other water companies are doing. They too had growth on the international side but not as much as ours.
The CFO, myself and the CEO met with a US investor as part of our plan to hold more roadshows in the UK, Europe and US in July after the outcome of Ofwat’s (the regulator’s) price review. In the afternoon, I left for the Reading office where I had logistics planning meetings for our annual meeting in July and our Shareholder Open Day in September. We open a water treatment plant for our private investors so they can get a look at what we do. While there, I talked to different managers and directors to see what was going on in their departments. I go down to Reading at least once a week because it’s very important to keep in touch.
Thursday, May 27
Annual report day and we get the lay-out approved and chase the accountants for the figures. The report is out on June 25 and it requires a great deal of work because it includes sub-reports on the environment, drink water quality, conservation and recreation, and our utility unit. It’s crucial to ensure the design and messages are consistent.
Friday, May 28
This was my day to catch up on things. I set initial performance objectives for my team, write weekly and monthly reports for the executive management team, and went over research conducted annually from analysts, journalists and institutions, rating the IR function. This helps me improve the whole service but I was pleased that so far all our messages had come across and people had confidence in our management.
I was then off to Heathrow to fly to Switzerland for the bank holiday, only to be stuck for hours on the tarmac due to a power cut. It did make me think how important contingency planning is…
