City delight as China buys ER's Postman Pat

With thoughts turning to China and the Olympic Games, Entertainment Rights' announcement that it had sold the first eight series of Postman Pat to China's national television network, China Central Television, was well received by the City.

Its shares climbed to 9.3p, a rise of 43.7% on the week.

Stockbrokers Charles Stanley, which has a buy rating and a 20p price target on Entertainment Rights, noted that merchandising "can be highly lucrative" and that such deals "pave the way for potential future upgrades"

Despite its recent rise, Entertainment Rights remains 67.4% down from its 52-week high. The company's valuation is still recovering from a profits warning last year at a time when its debts had risen to £108m after the purchase of Classic Media, the American company that owns Lassie and Caspar the Friendly Ghost.
Howard Davies, partner, Deloitte
This column provides a weekly commentary on the key movements among 20 listed media companies chosen by Broadcast. Source: Datastream