ONDON, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Shares in media group Pearson Plc climbed sharply on Wednesday, for the second straight session,
as the sector continued to attract a positive re-rating following a number of Internet-related deals across the industry, analysts said.
Pearson gained 162p or 9.9 percent to 18.007 pounds by 1151 GMT, having earlier traded at an official record high of 18.60
pounds.
Other media stocks to advance included music group EMI Plc (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: EMI.L), up 7.9 percent at 603p, and
magazine publisher EMAP Plc (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: EMA.L), which climbed 4.3 percent to 12.75p.
Analysts said EMI in particular had struck a number of promising deals in the past few months, including those with Musicmaker.com (NasdaqNM:HITS - news),
LAUNCH Media Inc (NasdaqNM:LAUN - news), Preview Systems and Liquid Audio (NasdaqNM:LQID - news).
``Investors seem to be deciding the Internet is something that people like EMI, which have unique content, can expoit to their benefit,' said WestLB Panmure media
analyst Lorna Tilbian.
Pearson's Financial Times Group last month said it was merging its asset valuation business with Data Broadcasting Corp (NasdaqNM:DBCC - news) which would
allow it to deliver more of its products via the Internet.
Analysts said recent corporate activity such as Carlton Communications Plc's (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: CCM.L) merger plan with United News & Media Plc
(quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: UNSW.L) had also helped to put the sector in the spotlight.
Dealers added that trading volumes in Pearson shares were modest and the stock price was subsequently vulnerable to big moves. |
