A listed company announces results several times a year, and in between it announces trading updates, acquisitions, board changes and contract wins. Each announcement has two audiences that are often confused. The first is the market, which must be told through a regulated channel, at a regulated time, in a regulated form. The second is the press: the financial, business and trade journalists who decide whether the announcement becomes a story, a paragraph or nothing at all.
The regulatory channel does the first job, not the second. This guide is about the second job, and how to run it without getting in the way of the first.
Regulatory disclosure is not media distribution
Start with the boundary, because a great deal of money is wasted by companies who think one service does both.
Regulatory disclosure is the release of inside information and mandated announcements through the channel your exchange or regulator requires: a Regulatory Information Service such as RNS in the United Kingdom, an approved primary information provider in the European Union, filings with the SEC through EDGAR in the United States, and whatever your exchange requires. These channels exist so that every investor receives the same information at the same moment. They are compulsory, their formats are fixed, and nothing in this article changes any of that.
Presswire is not a regulatory information service, and it should never be used as one. What Presswire does is the media and public-visibility layer that runs alongside the regulatory feed: it puts the announcement in front of the journalists who cover your company and sector, in the regions you choose, with a human editor checking it first. It can add newsroom-terminal delivery through PA MEDIAPOINT for newsrooms across the UK and Europe, online syndication to more than 400 news sites including the Associated Press network and USA Today, and translation for issuers announcing into more than one market.
The regulatory feed reaches the market. The media distribution reaches the people who write about the market. A well-run investor relations team does both, in that order.
Timing: the regulatory feed goes first
The order of events on a results morning is not negotiable. The regulatory announcement is released at the mandated time, typically 07:00 local time for UK and European issuers and before the market opens in North America. The media release goes at the same moment or immediately after, never before. A media release that lands in a journalist’s inbox before the regulatory announcement is a disclosure problem, and it will be treated as one.
This is where the mechanics matter. Presswire aims to send a release within an hour of receiving it, once it has passed editorial review. For an ordinary announcement that speed is a virtue. For a results release it is the wrong default. The answer is to file in advance with a specified distribution date and time: you submit the release the day before, the editors review it, and it is held under embargo until the minute you set. When 07:00 arrives, the regulatory announcement and the media distribution go out together.
The same discipline applies to trading updates, profit warnings and deal announcements. If the announcement contains inside information, the regulatory channel leads and the media distribution follows to the second. If it does not, such as a routine appointment, you have more latitude, but a timed release is still the safest habit.
What a results release must give a journalist
A journalist covering results on a busy morning may have a dozen companies reporting at once. They will read the first screen of your release and decide. The regulatory announcement is where they go afterwards to check. The media release is what gets them to go there.
Headline numbers first. Revenue, profit on the measure your sector uses, and the dividend if there is one, in the first two paragraphs. State the period and give the comparison period beside it. A percentage change without the base figure is a red flag to any experienced correspondent.
A clear statement of what changed. If margins improved, say why. If a division was sold, say what remains. If there was an exceptional item, name it plainly. Journalists are trained to find the thing you are not saying.
Outlook, in plain words. The guidance paragraph is the one most likely to be quoted. Write it so it can be quoted without the reader knowing your internal definitions.
A chief executive quote that says something. “We are pleased with these results” is deleted on sight. A quote that explains a decision, admits a difficulty or states an intention will survive editing and may carry the story.
Notes to editors. A short company description, the reporting currency, the date of the next scheduled announcement, the regulatory channel through which the full statement was released, and a named press contact with a telephone number that will be answered on the morning. A journalist with a question at 07:20 who cannot reach anyone will write the story without you.
Coordinating the two channels
The teams that handle regulatory disclosure and media relations are often different people, sometimes different firms, and the failures happen in the gaps between them. The regulatory text and the media release must agree on every figure; journalists compare them, and a discrepancy becomes the story. Draft the media release from the final approved regulatory text and have one person sign off both. The media release can select and simplify; it cannot add. A forward-looking claim in the chief executive’s quote that is not in the regulatory statement is a disclosure problem, not a public-relations one.
Distribution lists deserve the same care. Presswire builds the list per release from its media database, by editorial beat, publication type, region and role, so that a results release from a listed logistics company reaches the transport correspondents and the markets desks, not the whole business section. Regions are North America, Europe including the UK, the UK on its own, Asia, or worldwide. For UK and European newsrooms, PA MEDIAPOINT delivery places the release inside the editorial systems those newsrooms use; Presswire is an official PA Media partner and offers it on any circuit. For a permanent, searchable public record, online syndication publishes the release across more than 400 news sites including the Associated Press network and USA Today, with guaranteed placement on Google News. Neither replaces the regulatory feed or the journalist list. They are additions to it.
Translation for multi-market issuers
A company listed in London with operations in Germany and a growing shareholder base in Asia has three sets of journalists to reach, and only one reads English as a first language. Presswire offers translation per language for releases of up to 500 words, distributed to the journalists in that market. Translate the media release, not the full regulatory statement, and have the figures checked against the source by someone who understands both the language and the numbers.
Common mistakes that cost coverage
Tables pasted as images. A results table saved as a picture cannot be searched, quoted, copied or read on a phone. Put the headline figures in the text and link to the full statement for the tables.
Jargon inherited from the regulatory text. The regulatory announcement has to use defined terms; the media release does not. “Adjusted EBITDA before exceptional items” is right for the statement and wrong for the first paragraph aimed at a general business reporter.
No comparison period. A number without its prior-year figure is a fact without a direction.
A quote that could belong to any company. If the chief executive’s words would fit a competitor’s release unchanged, they will not be quoted.
No one answering the telephone. Results morning is the one day when the press contact must be reachable from the moment the release goes out.
Sending before the regulatory feed. The one mistake on this list that is not merely a missed opportunity.
What it costs
Presswire publishes its prices in full, in three currencies; the figures below are from the 2026 rate card. Prices exclude VAT, which is added for UK-based businesses only.
Distribution to one region, whether North America, Europe including the UK, the UK alone, or Asia, is $250, £185 or €220 per release. Worldwide distribution is $400, £300 or €350. PA MEDIAPOINT newsroom-terminal delivery is $235, £175 or €205. Online syndication with the Associated Press network, USA Today and Google News placement is $290, £215 or €250. Translation is $380, £285 or €335 per language for a release of up to 500 words. A tracking report is $95, £70 or €85, and media monitoring is $235, £175 or €205 for one month on a single release, or $320, £240 or €280 a month ongoing for up to two keywords.
Every distribution includes editorial review by Presswire’s editors, who are former BBC journalists, publication on presswire.com and its Google News title, and syndication to Presswire’s content partners. There is no membership fee and no charge per word, which matters for results releases that run long.
For issuers with a regular calendar, the annual subscription is usually the better arrangement: access to the Media Contact Database, unlimited press release distribution for twelve months and a complimentary tracking report with every release. The UK subscription is $2,700, £2,000 or €2,350 a year. North America is $4,000, £3,000 or €3,500, as is Europe including the UK. The global subscription is $6,550, £4,900 or €5,700. A company reporting quarterly, with trading updates, deals and appointments in between, will typically pass the break-even point against per-release pricing before the year is out.
Frequently asked questions
Can Presswire make our regulatory announcement for us?
No. Regulatory disclosure must go through the channel your exchange or regulator requires, such as RNS in the UK, an approved primary information provider in the EU, or SEC filings in the US. Presswire is the media distribution that runs alongside that channel. Use both, in that order.
How do we stop the media release going out before the regulatory feed?
File it in advance with a specified distribution date and time. Presswire’s editors review it beforehand and hold it under embargo until the minute you set. Without a timed instruction, Presswire aims to distribute within an hour of receipt, so for a results release always set the time.
Which journalists receive a results release?
Presswire builds the list for each release from its media database by editorial beat, publication type, region and role: typically financial and markets correspondents plus the trade titles for your sector, in the regions you select. PA MEDIAPOINT delivery adds newsroom terminals across the UK and Europe.
Is online syndication useful for a listed company?
It serves a different purpose from journalist distribution. Syndication publishes the release across more than 400 news sites including the Associated Press network and USA Today, with Google News placement, creating a permanent public record that investors and analysts find through search. It sits alongside the regulatory feed and the journalist list rather than replacing either.
Do you charge by word count?
No. There is no per-word charge and no membership fee, so a long results release costs the same as a short one. The only length limit is on translation, priced per language for releases of up to 500 words.
If your company reports on a regular calendar and wants the media side of each announcement handled with the same discipline as the regulatory side, start with press release distribution, review the full pricing in USD, GBP and EUR, and add online syndication where a permanent public record matters.