On the whole it was a quiet week for media shares. The ITV companies have now steadied their prices and takeover talk has, for the moment, subsided. Pearson, on the news of its sale of Westminster Press to Newsquest *(Newsline 05/08), rose 19p to 630p, but the main development last week was speculation that Reed Elsevier would announce takeover plans alongside its financial results on Thursday.
The market was rife with speculation that Reed would attempt to buy either Reuters or Pearson. As a result, on Wednesday, Reuters closed 22p higher at 729p and Pearson firmed 9p to 654p. Reed also benefited from the rumours, adding 21p to 1,150p. In the event shares in Reed fell 5p to 1145p after interim results in line with forecasts *(Newsline 08/08), while news that it had bought Tolley Publishing from United News & Media raised United’s price 24p to 679p.
Shares in Rank Organisation fell 27p to 441p after the group reported a decline in half-year profit *(Newsline 09/08) on Friday.
* MediaTel subscribers only
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