Sharewatch: Radio Groups Rising As Confidence Grows

Confidence amongst city investors appeared to be growing yesterday, as the UK’s radio groups took centre stage on trading floors. Chrysalis put in a good performance, rising by 3.66% to 184p, while rival UBC Media soared by a massive 7.14%, appearing to put a turbulent week of ups and downs behind it.

UBC recently confirmed its intentions to work with Channel 4 on a radio station to be formed from its existing oneword service. The group stands to benefit greatly from the partnership, and investors will no doubt be watching the company as the tie-up develops (see UBC Announces Plans For Radio With Channel 4).

Daily Mail and General Trust also saw a rise, creeping up by 0.72% to close at 696p. Yesterday the newspaper giant announced the purchase of Birmingham based classified specialist, Bargain Pages Media, for a total of £8.5 million. The group will now form part of DMGT’s regional newspaper division, Northcliffe Newspapers Group (see Daily Mail Snaps Up Midlands Bargain Papers).

Elsewhere, commercial broadcaster ITV saw a minor dip, slipping by 0.24%. Yesterday saw the company announce that it will join the Association of Online Publishers, bringing its internet operations into line with its rivals and signalling an increased focus on its website content (see ITV Joins Association of Online Publishers). ITV is also preparing to broadcast the first show of Simon Cowell’s X Factor tomorrow night. It is hoped that the series will court a massive following, akin to that of Pop Idol last year (see ITV To Offer Interactive Betting On X Factor).

Bidding rumours circulating around supermarket giant J Sainsbury helped the FTSE 100 to close up 0.4% at 4,518.6 yesterday, while the FTSE 250 climbed by the same amount to close at 6,133.5.

The closing prices of media company shares on Thursday were: