Sharewatch: GWR Sees Stocks Dip As Hodgson Joins Board

GWR was seen in focus yesterday with shares dipping by 3.15% following the announcement that Patricia Hodgson, former chief executive of the Independent Television Commission, has been appointed to its board of directors.

The radio group also recently denied speculation that it is holding £840 million merger talks with Capital about a potential £840 million merger of the two companies to be completed later this year. Capital rose by 2% yesterday to close at 536p (see GWR Denies £840 Million Merger Talks With Capital).

Meanwhile, Scottish Radio Holdings remained in the spotlight with shares slipping by 0.11% despite recently announcing that like-for-like radio revenues jumped by 10.5% during the company’s first financial quarter (see Scottish Radio Sees 11% Revenue Jump In First Quarter).

ITV partners, Carlton and Granada continued to rise on the hope of cost-savings following Ofcom’s announcement of a change in the ITV licensing process due to implemented in December. Shares in both companies improved by 1.69%.

Media and technology stocks underpinned the footsie yesterday with the FSTE 100 index closing 1.5% higher at 4,447 and the more growth-orientated FTSE 250 rising by 0.2% to close at 6,050.4.

The closing prices of media company shares on Tuesday were: