CorpComms Magazine

Almost two out of five companies have increased the amount of guidance that they provide to analysts while a further ten per cent are actively considering upping the amount of information, according to a new survey of investor relations officers (IROs) by Citigate Dewe Rogerson.

The increased levels of guidance suggest that corporate confidence is returning, and this is further backed by evidence suggesting that 18 per cent of companies increasing levels of guidance are prepared to offer hard numbers rather than soft targets, such as drivers and trends behind cash flow forecasts. A further 22 per cent will provide both hard data and soft targets.

In the past, American IROs have tended to favour hard numbers and formal guidance while European companies have preferred to guide analysts by explaining their performance in the context of the marketplace.

The research suggests Danish and German companies will opt to offer hard guidance going forward, while British companies will offer both forms of guidance.

The majority of companies, 82 per cent, share their consensus forecast with the market. Almost four in ten companies prefer to share guidance and consensus forecasts in discussions with analysts, although this figure at 38 per cent is slightly down on the 42 per cent recorded last year, while just 17 per cent of companies use email for this purpose. One in four companies, up from 15 per cent, use their websites to display consensus information.

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