AGM Trading Statement (4976F)

TIDMSGI

RNS Number : 4976F

Stanley Gibbons Group PLC

27 April 2011

THE STANLEY GIBBONS GROUP PLC

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 27 April 2011

THE STANLEY GIBBONS GROUP PLC ("the Company")

Trading Statement

Ahead of the Annual General Meeting to be held later today, the Board of the Company updates the market with the following Trading Statement:

"Turnover for the first quarter, which is traditionally the quietest trading period, was 36% above the same period last year. On a like-for-like basis, excluding sales from the Benham Group acquired in September last year, turnover was up 24%.

Overall trading in the first quarter has been strong across most operating divisions, particularly philatelic trading and retail operations. Retail sales from our flagship premises at 399 Strand were up 25% compared to the prior period. Sales in the prior period were however impacted by the disruption during the substantial refurbishment works undertaken in the first quarter last year.

We are in the final testing stages of the website development project and expect to launch the principal components of the new site in May. The new website will feature over 400,000 additional stamps available for sale on launch as we list our extensive stockholding of lower value stamps on the site for the first time. Previously, those stamps were only available to purchase through visiting our retail premises at 399 Strand.

Our international marketing campaigns promoting rare stamps and historical signatures as an investment opportunity continue to deliver an increasing number of new prospects. The conversion of those prospects benefited sales in the first quarter to some extent, although more significantly, we are currently working on over GBP2m of enquires generated from recent marketing campaigns in March and April. The strength of our current order book puts the business in a healthy position for the second trading quarter.

We are well placed to maximise the additional revenue opportunities from the Royal Wedding and sales in April of collectibles issued in advance of the wedding are already providing an additional boost to second quarter revenues. The extensive display of Royal Wedding commemorative collectibles available to purchase from our dedicated display at 399 Strand will ensure we maximise footfall, one-off sales and new client recruitment during the celebrations.

Sales remain broadly flat in our Publishing division, although we have recently completed a rationalisation programme, which will improve profit contribution from this low growth part of our business going forward. Further growth is anticipated from the launch of our new website and development of online publishing opportunities later in the year.

The business remains well placed to continue to deliver the growth in sales and profitability expected by the market. In particular, we look forward to realising the return from the extensive investment we have made in our databases and websites over the past two years.

If approved today, the Company's final dividend of 3.25p per share will be paid to Shareholders on 16 May 2011 and our interim results for the six months ending 30 June 2011 will be announced on 5 August 2011."

For further information, contact:

The Stanley Gibbons Group plc

Michael Hall, Chief Executive +44 (0) 1534 766711

Peel Hunt LLP, NOMAD/Broker

Dan Webster/Daniel Harris/Matthew Armitt +44 (0) 20 7418 8900

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

END

TSTIFMRTMBMTBBB

Stanley Gibbons (LSE:SGI)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jun 2024 to Jul 2024