Sharewatch: Trinity Improves As Pre-Tax Profit Rise
Stocks in newspaper group Trinity Mirror crept up by 0.08% yesterday to 599˝p following a 13.3% rise in pre-tax profits to £172.5 million during 2003. The company announced that, while advertising revenues dropped by 2.1% in 2003, there have been signs of improvement in the first two months of this year (see Daily Mirror Coverprice To Rise As Group Profits Increase).
The newly merged ITV company fell 0.9% yesterday to 137žp following the announcement that up to 400 jobs will be shed in attempts to cut costs. The company plans to decommission its Nottingham studios, moving all programming and news operations to Birmingham (see ITV Plans To Axe 400 Jobs In Cost Cutting Move).
SMG made the largest drop of the day, falling 3.97% to 121p. Last month SMG sold its stake in Scottish Radio Holdings to Emap, raising £90.5 million to help reduce its mounting debts (see SMG Sells Radio Stake To Reduce Mounting Debts).
London blue chips closed up for a second consecutive day yesterday, though any celebration was dampened by worries over Abbey National’s larger than expected losses. The FTSE 100 closed up 0.2% at 4,515.9 while the FTSE 250 also rose by 2%.
The closing prices of media company shares on Thursday were:
