Philatelic group Stanley Gibbons took a hit to its first half earnings as it made great strides in transforming itself into an 'exciting online business'. While profit before tax fell from £2.0m to £1.8m and earnings per share from 7.23p to 5.58p in the first six months, if internet development costs are excluded, underlying trading profits rose 9.5%. Chairman Martin Bralsford said: "This is an exciting time for the Stanley Gibbons Group as we embark on a strategy that seeks to transform a traditional respected brand into an exciting online business, whilst retaining and building on our core brand strengths and competitive advantages."The £0.56m net investment in online developments expensed to the profit and loss account were financed by the fundraising of £6.0m completed in November last year and, said Bralsford, therefore did not have any impact on the underlying trading performance of the group. At the period end the Aim-listed company had cash balances of £7.7m, representing an increase of £1.0m in net cash despite the online investment.The integration of US-based online marketplace bidStart, acquired last autumn, was reported to be progressing in line with plans, with a significant staff reorganisation and creation of a dedicated e-commerce team in Jersey completed in the first half. While sales at the Hong Kong office fell 15% to £1.1m and profits fell by a third, a new Singapore bureau traded profitably three months after opening in April.Balsford said the interim dividend was increased 9.0% to 3.0p in line with underlying earnings, as the company continued to see strong market dynamics of investors seeking investment diversification into rare collectibles. Shares in Stanley Gibbons were down 1.0% to 300p at 11:35 on Thursday.OH
