Sharewatch: WPP Dips As Grey Purchase Speculation Mounts

WPP was the talk of trading floors yesterday, dipping by 1.51% as rumours circulated that the advertising giant is preparing to buy US rival Grey Group.

A purchase would bring the company into WPP’s portfolio and bring an end to one of the few remaining independent advertising agencies. Grey was put up for sale in June, but a withdrawal from Publicis on Tuesday has left WPP as the front runner to purchase the group.

Elsewhere a poor day’s trading amongst media stocks left few companies with positive growth yesterday. Newspaper giant Trinity Mirror struggled, losing 2.10% to close at 607. The company recently announced an expansion of its advertising team, with a raft of senior appointments designed to improve its relationship with clients and agencies (see Mirror Group Announces Raft Of Advertising Appointments).

Radio firm Chrysalis was one of only a handful of companies to perform yesterday, rising by 0.13% to 193p. The company recently announced like-for-like revenue increases of 20%, underlining the company’s success as it continues to outperform the rest of the radio sector (see Chrysalis Continues To Outperform Radio Market).

The FTSE 100 provided drama in the city yesterday, losing 30 points in the morning, only to claw back its position in the afternoon. The market closed up 0.3% at 4,372.6 while the FTSE 250 finished 0.6% down at 6,071.8.

The closing prices of media company shares on Wednesday were: