Sharewatch: Maiden Steady Ahead Of Positive Results

Outdoor advertising group Maiden remained unchanged yesterday, despite strong full year results for 2003 published this morning showing an increased group turnover of £88.1 million. The group recently lost a spate of railway advertising contracts to rival Viacom Outdoor (see Viacom Outdoor Snatches Third Rail Contract From Maiden).

ITV saw its share price climb by 3.42% to close at 136p. Last month saw impressive revenue increases for the broadcaster, rising by 8.5% year on year due partly to the success of I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here (see NewsLine).

Emap also saw a rise, pushing up by 2.04% to 877p following a good performance last week. Although the company recently suspended fashion bible The Face and closed teen title J17. Revenues are expected to rise by 9% for 2003 when final results are announced in May (see Emap Revenues Rise 9% As Advertising Improves).

Oil stocks fuelled busy trading yesterday with the FTSE 100 closing up 1.1% at 4,406.7 while the FTSE 250 gained 0.6% to rest at 6,237.5.

The closing prices of media company shares on Monday were: