Sharewatch: Positive Results Boost Ulster TV

Irish ITV franchise, Ulster TV, continued to rise yesterday, building on is success last week to close 2.40% higher following publication of strong interim results. The broadcaster announced an increase of 29% in group profit for the six months to June 2004, as well as predicting a continued increase for the rest of the year (see Impressive Profit Growth For Ulster Television).

Commenting on the company’s performance, John B McGuckian, chairman of Ulster TV, stated: “The excellent television advertising revenue performance of the first half has continued into the third quarter, which is expected to record growth of 14%, well ahead of the anticipated increase for the ITV market of 4%.”

Elsewhere in broadcasting, radio stocks appeared to be buoyed by continuing merger talks between GWR and Capital. Rival Chrysalis Radio enjoyed a rise of 2.36%, while Scottish Radio climbed by a respectable 2.07%. A merger between radio giants GWR and Capital would create a broadcaster worth £700 million (see Capital And GWR Confirm £700 Million Merger Talks).

Independent also saw a marginal increase in share price, rising by 0.36% to close at 139p. Yesterday the newspaper announced the publication of a new Media Weekly supplement to directly compete with the Media Guardian, also published on Mondays (see Independent Tackles Guardian With Weekly Media Section).

The FTSE 100 dropped 0.25% yesterday to close down at 4,579.5, while the FTSE 250 suffered a decline of 0.3% to 6,277.9.

The closing prices of media company shares on Monday were: