The significance of the announcement arriving late is that it was slipped into the market when the market was effectively closed and had it been delayed another day it could not have been made because they would have been in a closed period.
In terms of the pre-close update, you tend to look for consistency on the basis that anything irregular needs explaining. Last year they gave a pre-close update on 16th December, in spite of the update they gave in November. this year we get an update in November and nothing pre-close and the Directors get a million share options after the market closes for Christmas. Not sure if that is that good or bad?