The UK stock market stabilised yesterday as Wall Street showed signs of recovery, however the UK media market was again shrouded in gloom as fears over the future of the advertising industry increased.
Shares in ITV partners, Carlton and Granada tumbled yesterday as analysts again downgraded forecasts in the expectation of a further downturn in advertising revenues. Carlton was the worst performer in the FTSE 100 with shares dropping 17.21% to finish at £1.78, a loss of 37p on the previous day, while Granada saw stock slip 10.29% to close at 91˝p, 10˝p worse off than the day before.
SMG, which announced a drop in pre-tax profits of 33.7% last week (see SMG Profits Stung By Ad Slowdown), also suffered with shares falling 2.83% to finish at £1.37˝, a loss of 4p on the day before.
The closing prices of media company shares yesterday were:
