Asia-focused digital advertising play Pixel is experiencing booming demand despite wider sector concerns and declares 2007’s results, out in April, will beat market expectations.

Growth at the Hong Kong company, which works with online publishers to sell their ad space, is being fuelled by a continued adoption of the medium by businesses and a surge in internet use, with its monthly unique users more than doubling in the last year to 700m. The recent acquisition of a mainland-based digital agency has combined with its existing Shanghai office to absorb a sizeable dollop of China’s booming internet marketing budgets.

The Chinese and Malaysian office are apparently growing faster than the market as a whole, with a number of existing clients – including HSBC, British Airways, eBay, Nokia, Sony, Adidas – increasing their business, and a swathe of new clients, such as Aviva, BMW Mini, Johnson & Johnson China, Disney China and Danone Malaysia, signing up too. The nascent mobile marketing industry is another avenue Pixel can offer to its clients through its recently launched partnership with Nokia.

With momentum in his favour and as ‘one of the most geographically diverse independent digital advertising sales networks in Asia’, chief executive Kevin Huang’s outlook remains bullish. He is particularly eager about the prospects for the coming year, with the Beijing Olympics attracting plenty of attention and money.

Despite the surging sector, valuations of AIM’s online marketers have not boomed in the past year and Pixel, below its 38p summer 2006 IPO and highs of over 50p since, is no exception. With management having revealed that margins are improving, house broker Canaccord has lifted its forecasts to $1.5m (£0.8m) of pre-tax profit and 2.9c (1.5p) earnings.

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