One to Watch

ITV is the UK's leading commercial, free-to-air broadcaster, created by the merger of Granada and Carlton Communications in 2004. It owns all the regional third channel licences in England and Wales and a number of digital channels.

As the penetration of digital, multi-channel television has increased over the past decade, ITV has suffered from declining advertising revenues and a reduced audience share for ITV1. A combination of poor strategic decisions, indecisive management and a severe recession did little to help matters. However, there are now signs that 2010 may see a turnaround in ITV's fortunes.

A strategic review, led by new chairman Archie Norman, is likely to announce investment in programming. This will require cash in the short-term, but should ultimately prove beneficial, helping ITV to create more content which can be sold globally.

In a European context, ITV is one of the lowest rated broadcasters, but does not however, pay a dividend. ITV's high exposure to an increase in advertising spending should lead the company to beat market expectations.

This article is for information and discussion purposes and does not form a recommendation by the manager to invest or otherwise.

Millennium & Copthorne

445.9p +5.6p

Broker says BUY

FOLLOWING last week's better-than-expected Q1 update from the hotel operator, analysts at Evo Securities have upped their earnings per share forecasts by 10 per cent and 17 per cent for this year and next, respectively. The broker said: "M&C is well positioned to exploit an eastern-led recovery."

Centrica

283.9p -3p

Broker says BUY

CHARLES Stanley analyst Tina Cook remains bullish on Centrica following Monday's first quarter trading statement and despite a challenging backdrop. In a note, she said: "There is some general uncertainty about UK energy policy given that the recent election ended in a hung parliament and the issue of the country's leadership has yet to be resolved."