Sharewatch: WPP Shares Soar Following Shareholder Victory
Advertising giant WPP put in a strong performance last week, pushing up 7.94% in week on week analysis after shareholders forced an abrupt u-turn on the company’s proposed bonus scheme for executives. The scheme would have been worth up to £112 million over five years, netting chief executive, Sir Martin Sorrell, around £44 million (see WPP Shareholders Block Executive Bonus Scheme).
Elsewhere, the Wireless Group saw a good week, increasing share price by 2.27% as the war of words between chairman and chief executive Kelvin MacKenzie and radio ratings authority RAJAR escalated into a full scale slanging match (see MacKenzie Brands RAJAR Chairman “Totally Unfit”).
Beleaguered cable operator Telewest saw a difficult few days last week, slipping by 14.29% in week on week analysis. Last week the Broadband Industry Group complained that the growth of Britain’s broadband networks is being stifled by BT’s monopoly over key technologies (see Broadband Britain Being Stifled By BT Monopoly).
The closing prices of media company shares on Friday were:
