LONDON (Alliance News) - Collectibles trader Stanley Gibbons Group PLC swung to a loss in its financial first half in what it called an "exceptionally difficult year for the business", but it highlighted positive signs of stabilisation.
Stanley Gibbons reported a pretax loss of GBP6.2 million for the half-year to the end of September, swung from a profit of GBP1.1 million the prior year, as revenue fell to GBP20.2 million from GBP29.4 million.
The company said it had made "significant progress" with its business restructuring, with GBP10 million of annualised cost cuts already identified, as it re-scoped and scaled back its Interiors division, and closed its The Marketplace online business in September.
Stanley Gibbons's coin joint venture suffered after a number of senior executive departures in the first quarter, which also hit revenue in the first half. However, Stanley Gibbons said that it will next month launch a new joint-venture with numismatic auction house St James's.
Stanley Gibbons now will turn its attention to its core philatelic activities, the final part of its business to be restructured, it said.
Stamp sales fell 20% in the half-year, hit by challenging market conditions and "inadequate IT infrastructure". The company said it launched a new website in November and is already starting to see an improvement in online sales following this.
As a result of its swing to a pretax loss in the first half, Stanley Gibbons declared no interim dividend. It also paid no interim dividend the prior year.
"The board expects that following an exceptionally difficult year for the business, with a marked downturn in like-for-like revenue, gross margin and trading profits, the group's revenues will better match its cost base in the second half of the financial year. Profits are likely to remain constrained by our continuing drive to release cash from the balance sheet where the group is also working on a number of initiatives," Stanley Gibbons said.
"Those divisions which were restructured first are already showing signs of recovery, and it hints at better days ahead as the restructuring continues across the group as a whole," the company added.
Shares in Stanley Gibbons were down 3.9% at 11.65 pence Friday.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; hanassmith@alliancenews.com; @HanaSSAllNews
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