Companies: ASG   

Good news continues to flow from Avanti Screenmedia, the largest and most profitable supplier of TV to pubs, shops and retails chains in the UK. In his latest missive to the market, CEO David Williams announced that his group had secured a £3m, three-year deal with The Mall Limited Partnership, a £2.3 billion venture that operates 22 shopping centres throughout the UK. Under the terms of the deal, Avanti will provide a 'total screenmedia solution', which will see it broadcast an array of programmes, advertising and marketing messages to the estimated 5m people who use The Mall's centres every year. Williams also expects to earn around another £3-£4m from advertising and has an option to renew the contract for a further five years. This news follows a £4.3m contract from the European Space Agency, a superlative set of interim results (profits of £287,000, sales up 35% at £3.5m and a net debt position transformed into net cash of £2.87m) and an acquisition at the turn of the year. The consensus amongst the City's analysts is that at 230p this group is still very much a strong buy. We are inclined to agree.