Sharewatch: Emap Rises As Sponsorship Push Announced

Cross media giant Emap saw a dramatic climb in share price, increasing by 2.34% to close at 854˝p. Emap Advertising recently announced a deal between Kiss Radio and easyJet, offering Kiss listeners the chance to win a trip to a series of club nights in the French Alps resort of Chamonix (see Emap Unveils Latest Marketing Push For Kiss).

International media group Pearson saw a drop of 1.69% in share price, to close on Thursday at 609˝p. Earlier this week the company released a trading update ahead of its 2004 preliminary results announcement on 28 February. The statement said that Pearson’s book publishing business, Penguin, suffered during 2004, as tough trading conditions persisted through the holiday season, particularly in the US market and backlist titles (see Financial Times Set To Break Even For 2004).

Elsewhere, radio broadcaster Chrysalis continued the downwards trend, losing 2.28%, to close at 186˝p. Earlier this month it was announced that Guardian Media Group Radio had poached Jo Beedham from Chrysalis to lead the development of the company’s non-traditional revenue streams (see GMG Radio Appoints Revenue Boss To Boost Incomes).

The FTSE 100 saw a slight decrease of 0.4 points yesterday to close at 4,800.8 while the FTSE 250 increased marginally, gaining 0.04 points to close at 7,091.3.

The closing prices of media company shares on Thursday were: