A great deal of attention was on BSkyB last week which at first pulled the satellite broadcaster out of the low it had been suffering in November and December.
On Monday BSkyB rose 8.5 to 567p as a result of a Kleinwort Benson recommendation and a shortage of stock on the Tuesday pushed it further to 571.5p. On Friday however Merrill Lynch recommended a “hold” on BSkyB stock and the broadcaster fell 4.5p to 575p. To add to its woes rumours that Granada was about to sell its BSkyB stake left it down 13.5p at 566p by the end of trading. Granada meanwhile benefited from the speculation and rose 7.5 to 867.5p.
Other media companies experienced fluctuations as a result of international developments. Reed gained slightly on Monday, rising 3.5 to 1021p, on news that it is in acquisition talks with a Dutch company, while Cable & Wireless rose 2.5 to 490 on reports that Singapore Telecom was interested in its Hong Kong subsidiary. General Cable rose half a penny due to speculation that SingTel wanted to sell its stake in the company. Reuters had a bad day on Friday, dropping 14 to 686p, on news that its overseas activities had been hit by unstable foreign exchange markets.
For a round-up of share activity in the TV market in the second half of 1996, subscribers should click Sharewatch Special – The TV Market.
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