CAPITAL MARKETS PARTICIPANTS VIEWS OF AUSTRALASIAN LISTED ENTITY REPORTING PRACTICES

In October 2022, the Australasian Investor Relations Association (AIRA) undertook a snap poll to look of Australasian capital market participants to ascertain their views of current reporting practices of Australasian listed entities. The snap poll included 15 quick-response questions that focussed on logistics around listed entity reporting during the August 2022 period. 50 respondents participated in the survey.

Result Briefings

• Buy-side respondents would like to see briefings spread out across the day which is indicated in their responses – see pp 14. Some respondents have suggested that 9.00 – 10.30am are the popular times. Results briefings for this audience should be held at least one hour after lodgement of results with the exchange. One respondent preferred at least two hours after lodgement.
• The sell-side’s preference for results briefings is after 10.00am. Companies, however, should consider that the market opens at 10.00am which is quite often a difficult time. A respondent commented that “a call a few hours after release of financials is best practice for sell-side”.
• Briefing length should be dependent on the result and the number of questions, with a preference for the briefing not to go any longer than 60 minutes.
• Respondents indicated that companies spend too much time talking to narrative that could be pre-released. The results briefing should include key highlights with the majority of the briefing being open to questions.
• With regards, to results briefing formats, the sell-side’s preference is for a conference call with a live Q&A whilst the buy-side prefer a live webcast with Q&A.
• One respondent noted that companies should ensure that they don’t use unique call platforms as this can cause compliance / access issues internally due to not being pre-approved.
• To increase buy and sell-side participation, companies need to consider their size and smaller companies should look to report outside of the peak briefing times. Companies should also avoid clashes with others in their sector.

You can download the complete survey here.