For me, 'bottom line' means the company's bottom line i.e. the profitability of the firm as a whole. I think many people might share my understanding of that term. I did not use it to mean the profit margin of each individual project.
I disagree that issuing forward guidance on revenue/earnings necessarily gives away the profit margin of each individual project. Guidance aggregates different sources of revenue into a single figure, and without a breakdown it would be hard for competitors to work out the exact size of each project's contribution to that aggregate figure, especially when it is mixed in with non-EMC contract income/income from other parts of CCE.
Finally, you are focussed on the downside risks that would come from competitors having even a rough idea of how much money CCE is making as a winning tenderer. But perhaps you are underestimating the significant upside for market interest in CCE growing off the back of some kind of announcement quantifying the benefit of this work in a commercially sensible way.
There is also a benefit in CCE setting itself targets - through guidance - that it can be publicly accountable for meeting. Although I appreciate that issuing guidance exposes the company to adverse consequences for a miss, the companies that have the guts to do it properly gain the trust and enthusiasm of the market.
You seem to want to catch me out by parsing my comments for inconsistencies, but you have ignored my remark that I am happy about these positive announcements. I am not your enemy. I am a fellow shareholder.
CCE Price at posting:
4.2¢ Sentiment: Hold Disclosure: Held
