As the horrific events unfolded across the Atlantic yesterday afternoon, billions of pounds were wiped off the UK stock market, traditionally closely allied to Wall Street. The closing value of the market was the lowest for well over a decade, while the longer term economic implications are thought likely to be on a similarly unimaginable scale as the human tragedy.
Media stocks fell across the board, with the exception of GWR which saw a modest rise of 0.5% to finish at £2.02, an increase of 1p on the previous day.
SMG, became the latest broadcaster to be affected by the advertising downturn announcing a 33.7% drop in pre-tax profits in its interim results, which were released yesterday (see SMG Profits Stung By Ad Slowdown). Stock was down 8.25% to close at £1.39, 12˝p worse off than the day before.
ITV partners Carlton and Granada were also hit. Carlton, which could lose its place on the FTSE 100 today if planned changes to the index take place, saw shares fall 8.7% to finish at £2.36˝, 20žp worse off than the day before, while Granada was down 10.32% to finish at £1.13, a loss of 13p on the previous day.
The closing prices of media company shares yesterday were:
