Sharewatch: Daily Mail Falls As Weak Advertising Hits

Daily Mail & General Trust, publisher of the Daily Mail newspaper, was seen under pressure yesterday, down 1.26%, after revealing its advertising-reliant businesses have continued to experience difficult trading conditions over the last twelve months, most notably at the Associated Newspapers division (see Daily Mail Sees Ongoing Weakness In National Advertising).

Elsewhere, ITV partners Carlton and Granada were seen under pressure, down 4.50% and 2.75% respectively. The bearish sentiment followed reports that the groups have rebuffed advances from US media groups, Viacom and Saban Capital, which have expressed an interest in buying a single ITV group (see ITV Groups Reject US Takeover Approaches).

BSkyB was also in the spotlight, down 2.36%, and has today confirmed that Tony Ball is to step down as chief executive after four years at the helm of the satellite broadcaster (see BSkyB Confirms Ball To Step Down As Chief Executive).

Broader market sentiment was bearish yesterday following a huge slide in the dollar, which neared three year lows against the yen, the drop hit most stocks with US affiliations.

The closing prices of media company shares on Monday were: