In the latest sign that social media is gaining early stage acceptance in the Australian financial markets, FTI research shows that in the August results season, 35 companies in the ASX 100 used Twitter as part of their communications strategies to publish their financial results.
FTI Consulting found that of the 91 companies that recently reported full year or half year results, 58 have a Twitter account and 35 tweeted on results day.
There were 146 results related tweets posted over the results season. These tweets provided an additional channel to amplify the company narrative with some helping to defend results that failed to meet expectations.
The content, techniques and the number of tweets that companies shared on results day varied greatly. These included:
- Seven companies tweeted 10 times or more on their results day.
- The GPT Group tweeted 20 times using a variety of techniques including quotes from their CEO, CFO and CIO
- Telstra posted 17 tweets and Wesfamers 13
- On a sector basis, energy and resources led the way, with representatives on the Twitter leader board from Rio Tinto, Santos, Fortescue, AGL, Origin and Woodside Petroleum.
The results show a broad spectrum of tools, techniques and strategies for using Twitter on results day, including:
- Hashtags and cashtags
- Executive mentions
- Infographics
- Videos
- Links to related content
- Announcement reminders and live tweeting
In comparison, on the FTSE 100, 59 companies used Twitter to share their latest half, or full year results in July 2014. This was a 21% increase compared to the FTSE 100 previous results season earlier in the year.
Download the report Socialising Financial Results #1
Companies used a combination of regional business hashtags, a unique results hashtag and company cashtags to increase the company’s visibility on Twitter and to allow Twitter users to follow the conversation about the company’s results.
A cashtag is basically a hashtag for financial communications; it’s visually represented by a dollar sign before a company’s ticker symbol. It allows Twitter users to track financial information about the company, for example $RIO.
The GPT Group created a unique hashtag specific to their half year results for 2014 which provides the benefit of having an archived conversation and allows for hashtag cataloguing for the years to come. For example, #GPT1H14 #GPT2H14 #GPT1H15 #GPT2H15.
Cash flows from operations increased by 8% to $8.7 billion and capex reduced to $3.6 billion in the first half $RIO//twitter.com/RioTinto/status/497265646271332352
— Rio Tinto (@RioTinto)Thu, Aug 07 2014 06:19:03
GPT is holding its 2014 Interim Result presentation at 10am, to listen to the webcast click here http://bit.ly/1r60UeL . #GPT1H14//twitter.com/TheGPTGroup/status/498976484942282752
— The GPT Group (@TheGPTGroup)Mon, Aug 11 2014 23:37:19
Mentioning a senior executive or other relevant stakeholders can be valuable particularly if they have an active and influential social presence.
Wesfarmers mentioned its Managing Director, Richard Goyder and also included Coles and Bunnings’ handles. Goyder, amplified the reach through retweeting and sharing the results announcement with his 1,000 plus followers.
//twitter.com/Wesfarmers/status/501891719101964288
— Wesfarmers Limited (@Wesfarmers)Wed, Aug 20 2014 00:41:25
The GPT Group also used quotes from its CEO, CFO and CIO thereby highlighting the company’s key financials and messages. Using direct quotes, facts, scripts and soundbites from your company’s senior executives can be useful when formulating tweets. In these instances they only used a quote and their results hashtag to draw attention to that specific information.
GPT CEO: While there’s been some improvement in the economy, there are unlikely to be material changes during the rest of the year. #GPT1H14//twitter.com/TheGPTGroup/status/498983801242923010
— The GPT Group (@TheGPTGroup)Tue, Aug 12 2014 00:06:23
GPT CFO Mark Fookes: The distribution of 10.5 cents declared in June is up 4.0% on the prior comparable period #GPT1H14//twitter.com/TheGPTGroup/status/498984095431405571
— The GPT Group (@TheGPTGroup)Tue, Aug 12 2014 00:07:33
Fortescue Metals was creative and posted an image that included a picture of their CEO and a quote.
FY14 Financial results http://goo.gl/1Vg9mw
$500m early debt repayment http://goo.gl/1UoyG5 pic.twitter.com/KbOwemEzA8
//twitter.com/FortescueNews/status/501897016138407936
— Fortescue Metals (@FortescueNews)Wed, Aug 20 2014 01:02:28
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Infographics keeping things visual
Fortescue Metals, Telstra, Santos, The GPT Group and Atlas Iron highlighted their headline figures and key performance measures in the form of a summary table or infographic. Santos’ infographic included key financials such as sales revenue, interim dividend and an image of its GLNG project noting that it is almost complete. This is an effective way to display complex number-led information in an eye-catching way.
//twitter.com/TheGPTGroup/status/498988860978634752
— The GPT Group (@TheGPTGroup)Tue, Aug 12 2014 00:26:29
//twitter.com/FortescueNews/status/501886536921542656
— Fortescue Metals (@FortescueNews)Wed, Aug 20 2014 00:20:49
Mobiles growth continues. We’ve added 937,000 new domestic retail services in 2014, increasing revenue to 5.1% #TLS pic.twitter.com/6UVLFquaxg//twitter.com/Telstra_news/status/499682350121246720
— Telstra_news (@Telstra_news)Wed, Aug 13 2014 22:22:10
HY Results infographic: increased sales revenue, increased interim dividend, projects start-up ahead of schedule. pic.twitter.com/XTWyy3YJr4//twitter.com/SantosLtd/status/502619485720031232
— Santos (@SantosLtd)Fri, Aug 22 2014 00:53:18
Our year at a glance: pic.twitter.com/SVJvOZVcHM//twitter.com/Atlas_Iron/status/504769401422241792
— Atlas Iron (@Atlas_Iron)Wed, Aug 27 2014 23:16:18
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Wesfarmers and Telstra took visual communication a step further and created video content featuring either the highlights of their financial results, a senior executive overview or a live stream video of the webcast announcement. Depending on the purpose of the content, these videos varied in length. For example Telstra produced a two minute video in plain English and focused on what the results mean to shareholders. Below is another example where Bendigo & Adelaide Bank posted a media interview of their CEO.
Today we released our Full Year Results – but what does it mean for you? Find out more: http://youtu.be/JVb0vfRWRG8 #TLS//twitter.com/Telstra_news/status/499795625618059264
— Telstra_news (@Telstra_news)Thu, Aug 14 2014 05:52:17
Mike Hirst chats with @MattCNBC http://cnb.cx/1lNP6Gj discussing lift in full year NPAT. Media release: http://bit.ly/1lNP6G8 #ASX $BEN//twitter.com/bendigobank/status/498684995872227328
— Bendigo Bank (@bendigobank)Mon, Aug 11 2014 04:19:02
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Using links can help Twitter users find more resources such as joining the live webcast, viewing the financial results report or investor presentation, reading the media release or published news articles.
From our observation, the companies that tweeted once in total on their results day would at least use a link to either their financial results report or their ASX media release, both published on the company’s website.
Some of these companies retweeted commentary about their financial results from major news sources and senior financial journalists. Below are some examples of companies effectively using key words and links in their tweets to drive Twitter users to their online materials.
Today we announced FY14 results. Rev up 30% to $437m, EBITDA up 37% to $225m & net profit up 37% to $149m. Read more: http http://rea.to/ytv9u//twitter.com/REA_Group/status/497592877703524353
— REA_Group (@REA_Group)Fri, Aug 08 2014 03:59:21
Transurban has released its FY14 results today – http://news.iguana2.com/transurban/ASX/TCL/409567 …//twitter.com/TransurbanGroup/status/496427540756455425
— Transurban (@TransurbanGroup)Mon, Aug 04 2014 22:48:43
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Announcement reminders and live tweeting
A number of companies tweeted a reminder of the date and exact time of their announcement the day before and on the morning of their results day. In addition, companies also live-tweeted which increased their share of voice and amplified key messages in a timely manner. Live-tweeting can also provide the opportunity for those who are not on the analyst call to follow the conversation in real time.
We’ll be announcing our 2014 Full Year Results at 10am on Mon 25 August. Watch a webcast of the presentation here http://bit.ly/1AA3tXg//twitter.com/nibhealthfunds/status/502341904000774144
— nib health funds (@nibhealthfunds)Thu, Aug 21 2014 06:30:17
//twitter.com/AMP_AU/status/502210083976400900
— AMP (@AMP_AU)Wed, Aug 20 2014 21:46:29
