Stanley Gibbons Group PLC Trading Update (7636X)
January 16 2014 - 2:00AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMSGI
RNS Number : 7636X
Stanley Gibbons Group PLC
16 January 2014
For release at 7am on Thursday 16 January 2014
The Stanley Gibbons Group plc
("Stanley Gibbons" or the "Group")
Trading Update
The Board of Stanley Gibbons provides an update to the market on
its estimated results for the twelve months ended 31 December 2013,
and a trading outlook for the current year.
2013 trading results
The Board expects that the Group's sales and profitability for
the year ended 31 December 2013 will be in line with market
expectations.
Balance Sheet
The Group balance sheet position as at 31 December 2013 includes
net cash balances of approximately GBP17 million and a high quality
stockholding of rare collectibles. The strength of the balance
sheet provides the Group with a substantial capital base from which
to invest in further growth opportunities identified by the
Board.
Noble acquisition
The Company successfully completed the acquisition of Noble
Investments (UK) plc ("Noble") in November 2013 for a total
consideration of GBP45.3 million. The cash element of the
consideration was funded by the proceeds of a placing of new shares
with new and existing institutional shareholders, raising GBP40
million.
Noble comprises Baldwin's (the globally respected brand in
coins, established in 1872), Dreweatts (an auctioneer of antiques
and collectibles such as watches, fine wine and jewellery,
established in 1759), Bloomsbury (a leading auctioneer of books,
manuscripts and art) and Apex Philatelics. The acquisition has
brought together four heritage brands, which combined has created a
leading global collectibles auction brand.
The benefits of the acquisition are already being realised
through cross selling opportunities between Stanley Gibbons and
Baldwin's, demonstrated by initial demand for rare coins by Stanley
Gibbons clients. It is expected that a wider range of cross selling
opportunities across the enlarged Group will further increase sales
in the year ahead.
Work has commenced on delivering integration cost savings and
the implementation of improved efficiencies across the Group, the
benefit of which should be seen later in 2014.
Baldwin's has enjoyed a very strong start to the year having
just concluded their "New York Sale" auctions with over $7 million
of sales being achieved, including buyer's premium. The New York
sale included over $1 million of Russian gold coins, which forms
the first part of the substantial "Linden Collection" to be
auctioned by Baldwin's in New York, Hong Kong and London during
2014.
Online developments
Our online technical development projects, which are focused on
launching a global collectibles trading platform, are progressing
broadly in line with plan, with launch of the Stanley Gibbons
branded online marketplace expected in the second half of 2014.
We continued to invest in building a quality digital team in
2013. As a result of this investment, we now have a very capable
and experienced team in place together with an IT infrastructure
with open systems to support and fully exploit the opportunities
from the launch of our online marketplace.
Current trading and outlook
Trading remains strong with high levels of demand both from
investors and high net worth collectors looking to secure premium
quality collectibles.
The Board looks forward to delivering further growth in 2014 as
the business begins to realise the returns from the substantial
investments made in recent years.
Martin Bralsford, Chairman commented:
"The acquisition of Noble in November 2013 was a major milestone
in the Group's development. The objective is to combine our
financial resources, customer databases, international reach, and,
most importantly, specialist expertise to grow our business through
providing the best quality service to our clients - both buyers and
sellers.
Our online development plans to create a global online hub for
buying and selling collectibles will be enhanced by the wider range
in which we now have authority and expertise.
The Board congratulates the management team on delivering a
strong trading performance in 2013 at the same time as completing
the strategically important acquisition of Noble, whilst ensuring
that our online technical projects also remained a key focus."
For further information, contact:
The Stanley Gibbons Group plc
Michael Hall, Chief Executive +44 (0) 1534 766711
Donal Duff, Chief Operating Officer and Finance Director
Peel Hunt LLP, NOMAD/Broker
Dan Webster/Matthew Armitt/Richard Brown +44 (0) 20 7418 8900
Tavistock Communications
John West/Teresa Towner +44 (0) 20 7920 3150
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
TSTSFIFMIFLSEDF
Stanley Gibbons (LSE:SGI)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2024 to Jun 2024
Stanley Gibbons (LSE:SGI)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jun 2023 to Jun 2024