Asian firms cut back on roadshows

The number of Asian companies going on a roadshow over the past year has fallen from 92 percent to 80 percent, according to new research to be published in the winter 2017 issue of IR Magazine.

This puts Asian firms well behind peers in both North America and Europe, where at least 91 percent of companies went out on the road over the past year. 

And while the number of roadshows per company in Asia is actually up slightly from 5.5 roadshows to 5.9, the average number of days spent on the road is down by half a day to 14, according to the 750 respondents that make up the Global Roadshow Report 2017.

Again, this puts Asian roadshow practice behind North America, where days spent on the road are also down – to an average of 14.5 – and notably behind peers in Europe. In fact, European companies are the only ones in the research to have upped the number of days spent on the road to a whopping 20.4 – despite cutting the overall number of roadshows per year.

IR Magazine also asked respondents whether they planned to increase or decrease roadshow numbers in 2018. More than a third (36 percent) of Asian companies plan to up their game next year – the highest figure in the group. But 6 percent of Asian firms say they plan to cut down on roadshows in 2018 – also the highest of the three regions studied.