Results announcements are a key event for IR teams to manage, requiring careful planning and confident execution. Among the many complicating factors is how to handle your sell-side coverage around these events.
A recent research report from IR Magazine throws light on how companies around the world approach tasks like follow-up contact and the order of questions on the conference call. The research, based on a survey of more than 650 IR professionals, finds that three out of four IROs on a global basis conduct post-results follow-up calls with analysts.
But the most interesting factor here may be that one in four respondents do not conduct post-results calls. The author of the report writes: ‘This surprising result may reflect the continuing diminution of the sell side’s role in setting and interpreting quarterly results as well as a disengagement of companies from the quarterly expectations game.’
The report also looks at the Q&A portion of conference calls, asking whether the question queue is actively managed. Overall, IR professionals favor a managed approach with more than 50 percent globally doing this. There is a clear split between European and North American respondents, however, with the latter much more likely to select the order of questions.
Looking at the results by market cap, there is a clear trend for larger companies (with correspondingly larger analyst followings) to manage the order of questions.
These findings are included in IR Magazine’s new report, How to manage your sell-side coverage, which is available to Professional subscribers. Please click here for more information on how to access the report.
