Sharewatch W/E 4/10/96

Speculation that United News & Media would make a bid for HTV increased the broadcaster’s share price by 16p to 351.5p on Monday and on Friday it rocketed 32.5p to 384.5p.

On Monday however United fell 6.5p to 689p while Carlton Communications, which is also interested in HTV, dropped 3.5p to 483p. By the end of the week Carlton and United remained down, with Carlton at 481p and United at 665p. This fall was mainly due to the belief that both companies could be drawn into a costly bidding war and that United may over-stretch itself if it bought HTV.

HTV’s financial results, though showing a 10% increase in pre-tax profits to £6.1 million *HTV Interims Show Increases, failed to impress the market on Wednesday, with the broadcaster’s share price staying at 352p.

On Friday BSkyB reached a new high and broke the 600p barrier, rising 12p to 606.5p. This was mainly due to news that Rupert Murdoch had won a court case in Australia to launch a Super League rugby competition. Speculation that BSkyB may win an equity stake in the Flextech/BBC partnership *BBC Signs Deal With Flextech in return for channel carriage also helped to boost the share price.

TV Company Share Prices W/E 4/10/96

Cable operator Telewest rose 4p to 125p on Thursday due to industry speculation that Carlton Communications would buy a 10% stake worth around £110m, while Capital Radio fell 22.5p to 599p on Monday due to disappointment in ad revenue for August and September.

* MediaTel subscribers only