Nortel's Strange IR Techniques
You wonder if Nortel has become the “Gang Who Couldn't Shoot Straight” when it comes to investor relations. On Monday, the company issued a press release regarding a conference call with analysts this morning about its first-quarter results. When Nortel was asked when the results would actually be released - after the markets closed Tuesday or pre-markets Wednesday - no information about timing was offered. You can imagine how many people were surprised yesterday afternoon when Nortel's 10-Q was issued by the SEC at 5:15 p.m. All Nortel had to tell analysts and the media yesterday was the 10-Q would be filed with the SEC at some point Tuesday so there was a possibility it would come out after markets.
As for the first-quarter results, Nortel lost US$49-million, or 1 cent a share, compared with a profit of US$59-million last year. Revenue rose 4% to US$2.54-billion. The company said that, for the remainder of 2005, it expects “continued growth in revenues compared to 2004.”
