Ann: Transfield Services Market Update , page-5

I'm wondering why they made this announcement prior to the half yearly result. It may be for either of two reasons:

- Management wanted to avoid extreme damage to the share price a double whammy would have caused as a bad half yearly result is about to be released.

- Management didn't want a good half yearly result to be spoiled by an impairment notice and they are hoping that by the time the figures are released the market would have had some time to forget about this.

I may be wrong but with reference to my second point, the share price has been increasing steadily of late and I'm unsure whether this is due to the general lift in the stock market or whether smart money is expecting a good half yearly. Anyone have any thoughts on this?