Sharewatch: Cordiant Plummets Despite Take-Over Talk
Cordiant remained the media sector’s big mover on Monday, falling 25% on suggestions that the troubled ad group has entered into exclusive negotiations with WPP. If correct this move could prove disastrous for shareholders and could quash dealers’ hopes of a bidding war to restore value to the company.
Meanwhile, GWR was also in the spotlight as the possibilities of mergers and acquisitions activity in the UK media market continues to excite traders and analysts alike. The stock was seen up 5.75%.
Broader market sentiment was dented by a poor performance on Wall Street, as it appears investors have not seen the last of the accounting scandals which rocked the market last year. Further bearish sentiment was provided by the increasingly fragile state of consumer confidence illustrated by figures revealing weakness across high street retailers last month.
Investors also digested the news that, as expected, Britain is not to enter the single European currency. The Government does not know if it will join the Euro in the next couple of years.
The closing prices of media company shares on Friday were:
