LONDON (Alliance News) - Antiquarian books company Scholium Group PLC on Monday outlined plans to dispose of its South Kensington book operations to a new company headed by its current chief executive and said it expects to miss market expectations for the year.
Scholium said it will sell the South Kensington Books and Ultimate Library operations to a new company to be headed by Scholium Chief Executive Philip Blackwell for GBP140,000 in cash.
Blackwell will leave the company from March 30 in order to focus on the South Kensington operations, with Chairman Jasper Allen to take on his executive duties while the company seeks to identify a permanent replacement for Blackwell.
In addition to the spin off, the company said it is no longer confident it will meet market expectations for its results for the year to March 31 and could report a "substantial reduction in profitability" under the worst case scenario.
The group said it has seen a slowdown in sales in its Shapero Rare Books business, particularly in higher-value, higher-margin sales to customers in countries which are currently subject to political instability and sanctions.
As these customers are normally very active in the key Spring Fairs sales periods for the company, it expects the slowdown in business from this segment to have an impact on its revenue for the year in the Shapero business.
In its Scholium Trading unit, the company said its revenue and profit will fall below expectations after it failed to conclude a significant, expected transaction. It said the assets it was due to deal with were deemed to be of national importance and, therefore, export licences were not granted.
"Despite the disappointing performance in the current year, the group remains strong with healthy levels of cash and excellent stock. With a clear focus on Shapero Rare Books and Scholium Trading, we are working hard to secure larger transactions, which have a significant impact on profitability, and continue to have a positive outlook for the future of the group," said Scholium Executive Chairman Jasper Allen.
By Sam Unsted; samunsted@alliancenews.com; @SamUAtAlliance
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Scholium Group (SCHO)