Sharewatch: Telewest Suffers Following Merger Delay
Week on week analysis reveals a lacklustre performance for the media sector, which has been shaken by the recent woes of the FTSE.
Cable companies were seen in focus following news that a merger between Telewest and NTL will not take place for at least another year (see UK Cable Merger Put On Hold). Telewest saw shares fall by 20% week on week to close at 2p. Cable & Wireless also suffered, with stock slipping 20.14% to finish at 55˝p, in what was the worst media performance of the week.
Elsewhere, Capital Radio saw shares slip by 9.88% after RAJAR results for the fourth quarter of 2002 showed that the group’s flagship Capital 95.8 FM station saw its weekly reach fall by 6.7% period on period to just below 2.5 million (see RAJAR Results Q4 2002 – Reach Continues To Fall At Capital 95.8 FM).
At the other end of the scale, Pearson saw stock climb 1.21% to close at 543˝p in what was the best media performance of the week.
The closing prices of media company shares on Friday were:
