Media shares fail to exploit
overall market gains

Jennifer Whitehead,, brandrepublic.com, Friday, 16 November 2001, 3:55pm,

LONDON - Media shares failed to piggyback on the gains made by other parts of the market, as London stock indices recorded strong growth today, with the smaller public relations-dominated media groups being the main winners in the sector.

Broadcasters BSkyB and Granada both fell. BSkyB was trading down 2.2% at 869p, while Granada was at 153.5p, down 0.6% from yesterday's close. Carlton Communications recorded a small price rise, up 1.5% to 251.3p.

FTSE-100 listed Pearson, publisher of the Financial Times, failed to reflect the 0.57% rise on the index, which was worth 5238.3 points this afternoon. Pearson shares fell by 3.19% to 925p.

Leading the PR-dominated groups was Chime Communications, owner of Bell Pottinger. It was trading up 5.4% at 147.5p. Huntsworth, the group run by Lord Chadlington, founder of Shandwick Public Relations, was up 2.1%, trading at 24.5p. Incepta Group also recorded an increase. The group, which owns financial PR giant Citigate Dewe Rogerson, was trading up 2.06%, at 49.5p.

WPP Group was down fractionally, falling 0.59% to 754p. Carat-owning Aegis Group was down 1.2% to 102.75p, but was well up on the week following positive research notes at the end of last week.

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This article was first published on brandrepublic.com