Those of us who spend our early mornings lost in RNS’s notice the unusual ones. A trend, I reckon, is that more and more of them read like press releases, rather than just bland statements on what could be market moving events.
That’s a good thing, mostly. Especially if the quotes are usable.
Today’s results statement from HSBC for example, was good because it had a strong, punchy quote from CEO Noel Quinn right at the top.
Before we get into the hard-to-follow numbers, the company has already told us what the story is, alerted us to the truth that the figures aren’t all going the right way.
But you can have too much of a good thing. A curious RNS from ITM Power last week about the opening of a new hydrogen refuelling station is a case in point.
This is a small, mostly mundane bit of news not likely to excite many City Editors. So why the RNS has quotes from seven different people is hard to divine.
Some say that when it’s a collaborative announcement like this, the rule seems to be that you quote no-one, or everyone. Which is clunky.
I think on this occasion we can assume that Tavistock, the flaks, were doing what the clients wanted rather than what it might otherwise have advised….
