Sharewatch: Future Unchanged Despite Positive Results

Specialist magazine publisher Future remained steady yesterday, closing at 63˝p ahead of preliminary results released this morning.

The company has announced strong performance in the year to to 30 September, succeeding in a number of acquisitions and strengthening its management team (see Future Appoints Marketing Head For Aggressive Strategy).

Elsewhere WPP saw its share price dip by 0.26% to 574p. Chief executive Martin Sorrell told a media and telecoms conference in New York of his optimism for the company yesterday, stating that he expected a 15% growth in earnings during 2004, and that growth in 2005 and 2006 could be between 10% and 15%.

ITV also saw a dip, losing 2.07% to close at 106˝p. The broadcaster recently announced its Christmas schedule, aiming to tempt viewers with a mix of classic movies and premieres across its three channels to outdo the BBC over the festive period (see ITV Unveils Christmas Schedule To Rival BBC).

The FTSE 100 performed poorly yesterday, losing 25.1 points to close at 4,722.8 while the FTSE 250 lost 20.5 points to 6,635.5.

The closing prices of media company shares on Monday were: