Sharewatch: Prospect Of Recovery Cheers Media Stocks

Media stocks were cheered yesterday after the latest quarterly Bellwether report from the IPA revealed that the long-awaited UK advertising recovery is gathering pace.

The report claims the economic climate is stabilising and business confidence is gradually returning to marketing executives. Aegis was seen up by 0.52%, but WPP dipped by 0.34% to close at 585˝p (see Recovery Slowly Gathers Pace For UK Advertisers).

BSkyB was seen in focus after revealing plans to begin measuring satellite television viewing with an audience panel four times the size of that currently used by BARB. Shares rose by 0.87% to close at 696˝p (see BSkyB To Launch UK’s Largest Audience Panel).

Meanwhile, ITV saw shares dip by 0.58% despite the recent announcement from the broadcaster’s chairman, Sir Peter Burt, that the newly merged company is continuing to perform satisfactorily and advertising revenues for April and May are expected to rise by 2.5% (see ITV Chairman Claims To Be Satisfied At First AGM).

Stocks in UBC held firm after the commercial radio broadcasting company and independent radio programme producer announced that total revenues have more than doubled year-on-year and are expected to be up by 60% from last year (see UBC Media Sees Revenue Boost Of 60%).

The FTSE 100 rose by 0.5% yesterday to finish at 4,569 after London blue-chips closed at their highest level since July 2002. The mid-cap FTSE 250 added 0.9% at 6,345 and trading volume 2.8 billion.

The closing prices of media company shares on Tuesday were:

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