The latest data from the Office of National Statistics shows that the rate of inflation fell during February, making a rise in interest rates less likely.The underlying rate of inflation, which last month slipped over the 2.5% target set by the Government, dropped back again last month, to 2.2%. The headline rate was 1%.The Retail… Continue reading Underlying Inflation Comes Back On Target
Bertelsmann has announced today that it will not proceed with a voluntary public offer for the shares of RTL Group which it does not already own. Bertelsmann has been considering an E44 a-share public offering since its acquisition of RTL in December (see Pearson Agrees Sale Of RTL Stake). The group has also increased its… Continue reading Bertelsmann Abandons RTL Public Offering
IPC has promoted its head of marketing for TV listings division IPCtx to marketing director. Jemima Ransome, who has recently led both the advertising agency and below-the-line agency pitches for the company, will now join the tx Board and take on full responsibility for marketing activity across a portfolio consisting of What’s On TV, TV… Continue reading IPCtx Makes Marketing Promotion
UK advertising and public relations group, Chime Communications, this morning confirmed that it had achieved its target of double-digit growth, despite ‘the horrors’ of 2001. Announcing its financial results for the year ended 31 December 2001, the group said that despite some optimistic comments made at the end of last year, the market remains pretty… Continue reading No Recovery Until Second Half Says Chime Communications
Ulster TV released results yesterday which suggested that the company is holding up well against the ITV revenue slump. The news helped lift share prices by 5p by the end of the day, to end at £3.62˝.Elsewhere, a more positive outlook on advertising from brokers heped lift Cordiant 6˝p, or over 9% to 76˝p, while… Continue reading Sharewatch
Future Network, the international games and specialist consumer magazine publisher, has today said that it has been encouraged by the trading of January and February this year and described the previous financial year as the most difficult in the company’s history. Future has had a very rocky ride of late. Its market capitalisation has plummeted;… Continue reading Games Mags Recovery Could Drag Future Out Of ‘Most Difficult’ Period
JCDecaux has this morning released full year results for 2001 which revealed a 2.1% fall in profits and a downbeat outlook for Q1 2002. EBITDA was down 2.1% to E377.3 million whilst net profits were halved to E10.2 million from E20.4 million in 2001. This, said the group, was due to a slowdown in its… Continue reading JCDecaux Downbeat On Early 2002 Outlook
Radio First (see Radio First Sees Medium Term Profit In Football Stations) has made an upbeat statement at its AGM today and announced that formal audience research would be completed at each station during 2002. Chairman Keith Harris stated that numbers of advertisers and, consequently ad revenue, was growing month by month and as such… Continue reading Football Ventures Boost Radio First Outlook
According to press reports this morning SMG is considering a £60 million write-down of its stake in Scottish Radio Holdings in response to pressure from its auditors. In a buoyancy market, between December 2000 and May 2001, SMG gradually increased it hold in SRH building a 29.5% stake at a cost of £147 million. Analysts… Continue reading SMG Counts The Cost Of SRH Investment
Peter “Baz” Bazalgette has called for the Government’s analogue switch-off target of 2006-2010 to be abandoned, claiming that it is “unrealistic and distorts policy making”. The chairman of Endemol UK and non-executive director of Channel 4, writing in today’s Guardian, added that “an early switch-off as a government objective encourages digital platform-owners to hope for… Continue reading Bazalgette Calls For End To Switch-Off Target
