Sharewatch: ITV Partners Rise After Positive Comments

ITV partners Carlton and Granada were seen in focus, up 13.27% and 9.36% respectively in the wake of this weeks’ well received results. The groups were further lifted by positive comments from Deutsche Bank which anticipates that the proposed merger will be completed successfully and raised revenue estimates accordingly. However, other analysts claim the two stocks are trading at an unjustified premium, considering the poor state of the ad market and Carlton’s high debt gearing.

Elsewhere, all eyes were on the radio sector, where Scottish Radio Holdings remained stable at 670p after confirming it had agreed to buy GWR’s 49% stake in their joint venture, Vibe Radio. The move follows the Competition Commission’s decision to block GWR’s proposed acquisition of Chrysalis-owned Galaxy 101 (see GWR Sells Vibe Following Competition Rebuttal). The stock was seen up 6.97%.

Elsewhere, the Telegraph group received unwanted attention as concerns over levels of executive pay continue to cause havoc in the boardroom. Lord Black, chairman of the Telegraph’s parent group, Hollinger International bowed to investors’ concerns and announced he was to restructure the group’s voting structure.

The media sector put in a strong performance yesterday, following a strong start in Wall Street. However, analysts believe there is no real sign that the market is to break out of the low trading range which stocks have languished at since March and have already written off the gains as another dead cat bounce.

The closing prices of media company shares on Thursday were: