PR Newswire launches in SA

Johannesburg, 13 Feb 2001

PR Newswire today officially launched its press release distribution service in SA as a joint venture with BDFM, parent company of Business Day and the Financial Mail.

[VIDEO]Company representatives say the move is in preparation for the slackening of JSE regulations on the disclosure of price-sensitive information.

For around R2 000, PR Newswire will e-mail company press releases to selected recipients and journalists, and post the information on the Web sites of Summit TV, I-Net Bridge, Business Day and the Financial Mail. It also offers distribution to European and American recipients.

Vicky Unwin, PR Newswire MD for the Europe, Middle East and Africa region, says the scrapping of a JSE rule that corporate information be published in traditional media will open many opportunities in SA, as it has elsewhere.

[VIDEO]"There are very few countries that still publish financial results in newspapers," she says. "Generally, the world follows American trends when it comes to investing."

One of the American trends is competition to the traditional exchange news service, such as the local Stock Exchange News Service (SENS), from private distributors. Another is the requirement that information be disclosed to all investors simultaneously, which makes the webcasting of earnings reports and investor briefings particularly attractive. Unwin says webcasting is not only effective and cheap, but will become the norm.

"As more and more companies start using webcasting, investors will start expecting it, leading to further growth," she says.

[VIDEO]PR Newswire provides webcasting services as well as automatic monitoring of the press coverage a specific company receives on the Internet.

Despite its positioning to profit from deregulation, BDFM was among the most vehement critics when the changes were first proposed. At the time, media industry watchers considered the company to be fighting for its advertising lifeblood rather than for the rights of private investors as it claimed.

[VIDEO]BDFM is not the only traditional publisher looking for new revenue when income from the publication of financial notices starts to decline.

Independent Online (IOL) last year invested in a 70% stake in start-up company InvestorRelations.co.za in anticipation of the JSE regulation change in 2002. IOL is the Internet division of the Independent newspaper group, which counts Business Report and The Star among its publications.

(ITWeb is the South African partner of Business Wire, a competitor to PR Newswire.)