CorpComms Magazine

It's planned like a military operation, requiring split-second timing and nerves of steel. Two or three top executives - backed by a small battalion of support staff - face an army of journalists, analysts, investors and employees with one mission: to convey the very best of past performance and the highest optimism for the future.

Welcome to results day - five hours of frenetic, stress-filled panic that can be pivotal to brand and reputation. This is the day when everyone wants a piece of the chief executive and finance director, who generally face their public just four times a year.

The gatekeepers are the corporate communications teams, who juggle an army of journalists, analysts, investors and employees. They have to slice up their two key men and share out the pieces in a way that makes everyone feel they have had special attention. Just who gets face time with the boss is ultimately their decision.

Nigel Cope, head of communications at Kingfisher, says: 'We know everyone would like a one-to-one with the chief executive on the day, but this is clearly impractical. We try to organise a day that provides access to our top team by as wide an audience as possible while making the most efficient use of the time available. These are very tough decisions, and the level of media interest is so high that most usually end up having to share.'

One senior communications executive agrees. 'It sounds brutal, but it is a finely tuned balancing act. You have to decide how important are those who want to talk with the top team, and how much time they are going to get,' he admits.

Full and half-year figures are the big set-piece productions, but the directors are required in person at the annual meeting - which often includes an update on first-quarter trading - and may also be made available for third-quarter results, depending on the state of the market.

Bella Pagdin, senior financial PR manager at Marks & Spencer, says: 'We try to be as inclusive as possible. These results days are critical platforms for the company to generate positive coverage.'

Plan of attack

Typically, the statistics add up like this: two top corporate executives (possibly one more) face off against between 50 and 100 newswire, broadcast, online and print journalists and up to 50 analysts from the City's investment banks, attempting to fit them all in over a peak five-hour period.

Battle commences at 7 am. The profits news rolls out on the electronic notice boards of regulators and usually on the company's web site, which now often carries a webcast interview with the boss. The Evening Standard then usually gets first bite of the chief executive.

The wire versions are already rolling by then, but these are factual snapshots of the executive summary pages. Time constraints mean wire reporters just do not have the time to examine the entire results pack, which, somewhere in between accounting changes and the need to warn investors that it's usually difficult to predict the future, has grown from about four to 50-plus close-typed A4 pages.

Between 7.30 and 8 am the wire services get their top-level access. This 20-minute conference call used to be their exclusive domain, but not any more. The rise of online news and comment coverage, which is destined for either dedicated comment web sites or those of the national media, means that the likes of Breaking Views and Lex, the flagship comment section of the Financial Times, now listen in, alongside Reuters and Bloomberg.

On the agenda

Proceedings commence with a short summary by the chief executive. This is designed to guide coverage toward the year's highlights with positive messages, but it also serves to prevent reporters new to that particular sector from soaking up precious minutes with basic questions about a subsidiary that may have been sold off two years earlier.

One corporate communications executive says: 'These early reports and comments often set the angle, tone and sentiment for the day, so it is important to give newswires, Lex and Breaking Views direct high-level access. In fact, Breaking Views and Lex often want either separate or additional time with the chief executive. To be honest, they are so influential that they are given whatever they want.'

Alistair Smith, head of corporate public relations at Barclays, says: 'We regard results days as an opportunity not only to report on our performance, but also to convey the positive messages of where we are going. Early coverage gives us a key insight into the issues on which people are focusing and a feel for the tone that others may follow throughout the day.'

Pagdin says: 'The quality of comments can produce a virtuous circle of coverage. Lex and Breaking Views are highly influential.'

For companies whose products have mass-market appeal, such as high street retailers and big airlines, early demands from the broadcast media include the BBC's Today programme, BBC Breakfast, BBC Radio Five Live, Sky News, IRN radio, Bloomberg and CNBC.

But there is one other major group influencing coverage that usually does not get the same senior-level access before having to make up its mind about corporate fortunes: City analysts. Their salesmen and market-makers demand a view on the profit figures before the stock market opens at 8 am in order to decide whether the share price will go up or down. This direction is acknowledged as the single most important component of judging whether or not the chief executive is a success.

The rise of online coverage

Just when the results day planners are confident they have their logistical ducks in a neat row, over the hill comes a fresh new media audience.

This time it's the onliners, the rising number of highly qualified news reporters who write for the web sites of the national and international print media. With them comes a fierce competitive appetite to trump the newswires and a rolling deadline that allows minute-by-minute updates in an internet-based format that is open to everyone.

When billionaire retail entrepreneur Philip Green launched his proposed conditional, putative £9.4 bn bid for Marks & Spencer in the summer of 2004, the twists and turns were moving so fast that there were only two types of media able to keep pace - broadcast and online. Both were live, immediate and nimble.

Although few realised it at the time, this was a microcosm of the seismic media changes that were about to take place. In June, the Guardian stole a march on its rivals when it announced that its print journalists would write first for its web site, the award-winning Guardian Unlimited. Business and financial reporters are among those in the vanguard of this new convergence.

How will this impact results day? It has already created a new audience for the media planners and will add to the demands of the chief executive. Barclays' Alistair Smith says: 'I think the rise of online coverage is positive; the web sites have a wider readership than the wire services and can be accessed by staff, customers, suppliers and our smaller investors. For these reasons it is vital that they strike the right note.'

Marks & Spencer's Bella Pagdin says: 'Online is growing in importance as more heavyweight journalists are becoming involved, creating increased pressure to find new angles.'

Early birds

Analysts can gain breakfast-time access to the company. In larger corporations, their queries are initially addressed by a dedicated investor relations department, but they rarely get the chance to question the chief executive until well after 9 am, at the end of a two-hour presentation on the company's interpretation of the figures.

This presentation has to go well. Its detail will form the basis of a lunchtime snapshot note to investors, and will influence both the share price and coverage by the national print media. After all, there are still between seven and eight hours to go before newspapers go to press, which gives journalists time to gain the detailed views of a number of analysts. These views have the potential to send stories off in a number of directions that the company may prefer were not explored.

As the analysts exit at around 11 am, the media arrives - between 30 and 50 national journalists and the London correspondents of major overseas publications - and the chief executive starts the presentation all over again. This was once a cut-down version of what was given to the analysts, and prior to that, there was no presentation to the media at all. Indeed, the traditional press conference was replaced by a few one-to-one telephone calls. Today, however, increased amounts of regulation have forced the need for total transparency.

But all this doesn't stop everyone trying to get a little extra as the top brass and senior hacks mingle over the buffet lunch. This is where the executive's media training is really put to the test - one slip of the tongue and the next day's headlines could well ruin breakfast.

By 2 pm, the ordeal is almost over for the corporate executives - but not quite. Those national reporters sniffing around for an unexplored angle have read the wires and online stories and rung a few analysts, and are back for 'just a bit of clarification'. In other words, they are looking for a new spin because their first angles have already been eaten up by more flexible media.

These questions are often fielded by the communications staff, however. The chief executive and the finance director are by now putting themselves back into one piece and talking through past performance and future prospects with leading institutional investors.

Typical daily schedule for results

Times and audiences vary depending on the size of the company concerned

• Starting gun goes off as figures are released through regulatory news services. Video interviews with the chief executive and sometimes the chairman posted on the company's web site

   

• Interviews with the Evening Standard

   

• Early morning radio and television interviews, possibly shared between chairman, chief executive and finance director depending on demand

   

• Conference call between CEO and finance director for news wires/online reporters and commentators, usually lasting up to 20 minutes

   

• Travel to presentation venue

   

• Full CEO/finance director presentation and Q&A for equity analysts. This may also be broadcast live on the company's web site

   

• Reserved as a breather and to provide additional material for radio, television, online and newswires. A copy of the analyst presentation is usually available on the company's web site by now

   

• Full CEO/finance director presentation again, this time to the media. This typically moves from a formal event into a buffet lunch and is often attended by other directors

   

• Conference call for fixed-income investors, a recording of which may be available for up to a week using a dial-up number and access code

   

• Schedule of CEO/finance director interviews with institutional investors with a major shareholding in the company

   

• Some top FTSE 100 companies give the same analyst/media presentation to employees through a live video link

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