Sharewatch: TNS Rises Following Acquisition
Taylor Nelson Sofres was seen in focus yesterday, up 16.54%, after agreeing to buy the research division of crisis-hit advertising group Interpublic (see TNS Shares Jump On $425m NFO Worldgroup Acquisition). Numis Securities upgraded the group to buy from add, saying the acquisition would make it the third most powerful market research group in the world, with earnings enhancing in the first full year of acquisition.
Elsewhere Scottish Radio was in the spotlight following news of a multimillion pound recording deal with Universal Music. According to reports, the arrangement could give Scottish Radio a new revenue stream of around £200 million. The stock was seen stable at 671.5p.
Broader market sentiment was dented by an unexpected fall in US retail sales, seen as the lynchpin of the economic recovery. The sharp fall suggests continued weakness in the US economy with the consumer confidence index revealing that 73% of Americans consider the economy’s condition to be “negative”.
Today all eyes will be on Capital Radio, which releases interim results for the six months ended 31 March 2003. The results show a group revenue of £56.9 million compared with £60 million in the same period in 2002.
The closing prices of media company shares on Wednesday were:
