Media stocks were seen under pressure on Monday, as fears of further terrorist attacks, marking September 11th are seen dominating still fragile markets and the ever-present worry of a US-led military strike against Iraq weigh heavily.
SMG is seen in focus on news it is to put three of Scotland’s biggest selling newspapers up for sale, in order to put it in a stronger position ahead of the new media ownership regulations which will come into force in 2003.
Elsewhere, Channel 5’s biggest shareholder, RTL, is also in focus after ruling out taking-over the channel completely, despite unveiling plans to increase its programming budget by 7%. At the same time RTL announced plans to de-list from the London stock market, citing low trading volumes.
The closing prices of media company shares on Monday were:
