Financial Times Launches Company Announcement Service in association with Business Wire

This week the Financial Times launches its Company Announcement Service with Business Wire, the global news distribution company. The service has been launched to assist companies in disseminating their key announcements when the EU Transparency Obligations Directive comes into effect in January 2007.

Companies can now upload their releases at the FT Company Announcements Service using Business Wire Connect, and publish them directly on FT.com, as well as having the option to include a shortened version of the announcement in the Financial Times newspaper. Clients will also be able to access Business Wire’s regulatory filing services and global news distribution circuits.

Clients can choose from four packages:

- FT Online: a fully searchable press release published on FT.com
- FT Online Premium: a multimedia press release published on FT.com including images, documents & webcasts.
- FT Newspaper & Online: a next-day extract of the press release in the FT’s European and UK editions
- FT Newspaper & Online Premium: a next-day extract of the press release with a link to a multimedia release online.

The press releases will appear on the Company Announcement Service and in FT.com’s global archive. It will also be distributed via the FT’s news aggregation channels. Planned enhancements to the service include the releases being published on the websites of the FT sister publications, Les Echos and Financial Times Deutschland.

Business Wire satisfies statutory disclosure requirements in more markets worldwide than any other service. Business Wire’s multi-channel distribution platform also provides comprehensive coverage of the mainstream media, portals and online services, and leading archival databases.

Mark Cunnington, Director of Data Publishing, commented: “The Company Announcement Service is a new way for the FT to help clients publicise their company news to the people that matter. Working with a global market leader in news distribution ensures companies’ press releases will be handled efficiently and effectively, enabling them to get swift access to our unique audience. Using FT.com, the FT newspaper and our sister publication websites we can offer the perfect vehicle for companies wanting their announcements to reach investors and senior business executives across the UK and Continental Europe.”

“The Financial Times is an indispensible read for top-level executives,” said Cathy Baron Tamraz, Business Wire’s president and chief executive officer. “Business Wire is extremely pleased to be affiliated with the Financial Times in creating a corporate disclosure service that will assist EU companies in meeting the new compliance standards of the Transparency Obligations Directive. The combination of Business Wire and the Financial Times provides a unique and powerful platform that guarantees maximum visibility among all key audiences in the international investment and business community.”

#####

About the Financial Times:
The Financial Times Group, one of the world’s leading business information companies, aims to provide a broad range of business information and services to the growing audience of internationally minded business people. The FT Group includes:

The Financial Times, one of the world’s leading business newspapers, is recognised internationally for its authority, integrity and accuracy. Providing extensive news, comment and analysis, the newspaper is printed in 23 cities across the globe, has a daily circulation of over 437,000 and a readership of more than 1.4 million people worldwide.

FT.com is one of the world’s leading business information websites, and the internet partner of the FT newspaper. Since its relaunch in May 2002, the website has continued to be the definitive home for business intelligence on the web, providing an essential source of news, comment, data and analysis for the global business community. FT.com attracts 5.5 million unique monthly users (ABC electronic figures March 06), generating 41 million page views and has 84,000 subscribers. FT.com broke even in December 2002.

Contact Information

Lucy Ellison

PR Contact

FT.com

Contact via E-mail