AMP briefings questioned by ASIC

AMP has come under fire amid claims that it was holding selective analyst briefings and will undertake a full internal review of its disclosure and briefing procedures.

The review comes after concerns were raised by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and follows a profit announcement made to the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) last Friday by AMP chief financial officer Marc de Cure.

He said the group’s first half net profit result, due to be released on 23 August 2001, was expected to be between $340-380 million or 35 per cent lower than the same period last year. The release of the figure followed a week of one on one briefings with analysts.

In today’s announcement to the ASX, AMP chief executive officer Paul Batchelor said the briefings, held every six months for the past two years, are to ensure pubicly available information is reflected in analysts’ valuations.

“While AMP undertook these briefings with the best of intentions, it is apparent that our approach has caused concern that these briefings were being made selectively,” he said.

The ASX referred the situation to the ASIC, who are investigating the matter and are involved with the disclosure review.

“AMP has already held preliminary informal discussions with ASIC and the ASX and will provide full cooperation with any requests for information,” Batchelor said.

The review is expected to be completed before the release of the half year results, and Batchelor said a possible outcome could include web broadcasts of future analyst briefings.