Description | - IR conference calls or video conferences are an efficient instrument as a follow-up to an important media release.
- They are generally based on a presentation, which is made available on the IR website on the morning of the conference call.
- The presentation is less crucial, it is the Q+A that is more critical.
- Duration: Generally around 30 to 60 minutes
- The conference call is announced promptly on the website, investors (and generally also the media) are invited to it 1–2 weeks before the call.
- Most companies make the audio or video file publicly available on their IR website after the conference.
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Purpose | - Communicate core messages
- Clarify general investor questions
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Occasion | - After financial results
- When there are important events such as M&As, long awaited licenses for key products, unexpected problems such as profit warnings for example
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Content | - Dependent on the specific event
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Tips | - Provide a short summary to introduce the key messages and end the conference after the Q+A with the core statements.
- Prepare a script for both…
- … and also for the presentation that will be discussed.
- Presentations during conference calls should be as compact as possible: no more than a dozen slides, no longer than 15 minutes. The shorter, the better.
- A growing number of companies are doing without an introductory presentation and are holding just a Q+A session.
- If problematic facts are involved, describe these in the introduction and a carefully prepared statement and refer to them in the Q+A.
- A conference call makes sense only when a good answer can be given to most of the investors’ questions. In certain crisis situations where this is not the case, one-on-one meetings are sometimes more constructive.
- Each conference should be introduced and chaired by a moderator, including professional technology (no open lines).
- Various providers of conference calls and video conferences offer IT solutions that present by name the participants and people who want to ask questions – very useful information.
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