Professional investors are clearing their desks and sharpening their pencils ahead of the onslaught of the 2018 reporting season.

Over a period of about six weeks managers will first pore over published data, then participate in follow-up result conference calls and finally meet with the management of hundreds of different companies.

Katie Hudson, portfolio manager and head of Australian equities research at Yarra Capital Management, says her team will be on “red” alert. “We will be watching for red flags through reporting season because we will be spending a lot of time with company management. They can be early signals to us of things that might be slipping.”

Read more…. (subscription to The Australian Financial Review required)