Sharewatch: BSkyB In Focus Ahead Of Profit Statement

BSkyB was seen in the spotlight yesterday with shares rising by 3.08% as investors speculated ahead of today’s third quarter profits announcement. Many are bracing themselves for slowing subscriber numbers, but some argue that the bad news has already been priced into the stock.

Meanwhile, ITV saw stocks creep up by a solid 2.18% after revealing it is experiencing a surge in advertising revenue following a high demand for commercial spots during its coverage of the forthcoming European 2004 football championships (see ITV Sees Revenue Surge As Euro 2004 Approaches).

The UK’s largest commercial broadcaster also recently revealed plans to acquire SMG‘s stake in GMTV for £31 million and is to bid for the remaining 25% of the breakfast broadcasting network, which is owned by the Walt Disney Company (see ITV To Acquire SMG’s Stake In GMTV For £31 Million).

Chrysalis remained in focus with stock rising by 0.13% following the announcement that it is on track to deliver strong earnings growth over the next few years as operating profit for the last six months trebled to £3.7 million (see Chrysalis Sees Profits Treble In Last Six Months).

The London blue-chip market yesterday recouped some of Monday’s heavy losses, but traders were unconvinced that the selling pressure had ended. The FTSE 100 closed up 1.4% at 4,454.7 and the FTSE 250 added 0.98% to 6,001.2.

The closing prices of media company shares on Tuesday were:

Subscribers can access ten years of media news and analysis in the Archive