Confidence in ITV companies took a knock yesterday after the Sunday Times published a leaked letter to the Prime Minister warning of the consequences of the relaxation of media ownership laws (see Granada Warns Of ITV Disaster). Zenith Media also predicted that ITV’s ad revenue would be the lowest in its 50 year history (see Carlton And Granada Have Unhappy Monday).
Carlton suffered a loss of 4.49% to finish at £3.91, dropping 15p on the previous day and Granada saw shares slip 4.39% to close at £1.41˝, 6˝p worse off than the previous day. Smaller ITV shareholder SMG also suffered, with shares slumping 5.64% to close at £1.84, slipping 1p on the previous day.
At the other end of the scale, after Johnston Press announced yesterday that its ad revenues were up 3% on the same period last year (see Johnston Press Sees Positive Second Half), shares rose 1.67% to close at £3.04, up 5p on the previous day.
The closing prices of media company shares yesterday were:
