Sharewatch: Chrysalis Bucks Trend As Media Stocks Fall

Another dismal day’s trading left all but Chrysalis facing stalled or negative growth yesterday, as the radio broadcaster added 1.24% to its total to close at 183žp.

Last month saw Chrysalis reveal strong financial results, with a like-for-like revenue increase of 20% ensuring the firm continued to outperform its peers in the radio sector (see Chrysalis Continues To Outperform Radio Market).

Among those worst hit by yesterday’s slump was Highbury House Communications, losing 3.45% after a good performance last week. Highbury recently announced a strong financial performance. The company’s pre-tax profits for the first half of 2004 are expected to rise by 27% year-on-year with improvements in advertising revenue cited for its success (see Highbury House Profits Expected To Rise By 27%).

Satellite broadcaster BSkyB was also affected by the market downturn, sliding 1.73% to 848p as the company continued to reel from a shareholder revolt last week. The company angered investors by failing to meet its own subscriber targets, despite posting a 65% increase in profits (see Sky Profits Rocket Despite Slowing Subscriber Rates).

The FTSE 100 fell by 0.5% yesterday to 4,314.4 while the FTSE 250 also failed to shine, losing 0.9% and compacting last week’s losses to close at 5,834.4.

The closing prices of media company shares on Monday were: