WPP shares at decade low as ITV sinks

by Staff, Brand Republic 24-Oct-08, 09:15

LONDON - WPP and ITV have hit significant stockmarket lows, with shares in the marketing services group rolled back to levels last seen 10 years ago and those in the broadcaster falling below 30p.

WPP shares closed yesterday down 5% to 318.5p, a value they were last at in December 1998.

The fall follows a pessimistic analyst report last Friday, the same day it emerged the Sir Martin Sorrell-led group had ordered a hiring freeze until further notice.

The report cut WPP's profit forecasts for 2009 by 15% and for 2010 by 32%, arguing that the downturn would hit the group worse than first thought.

Shares in ITV are continuing to experience downward pressure following its exit from the Ftse 100 in September.

Its share price has fallen by around a third since then, and closed yesterday at 29.25p, its lowest point to date.

This gives the company a market capitalisation of just £1.2bn, slightly above the figure WPP has just agreed to pay to buy global market research company TNS.

European newspaper publishing group Mecom, headed by former Trinity Mirror chief executive David Montgomery, suffered a 23.7% drop to 3.7p after bringing out a trading update showing ad revenues dropped 9% in September.

However, BSkyB rose 4% to 372.25p despite Collins Stewart claiming it would fall far short of its 2010 target of 10m subscribers.