SGI.L Regulatory News (SGI)

22 Apr 2008 11:09

Stanley Gibbons Group Limited22 April 2008 THE STANLEY GIBBONS GROUP LIMITED "the Company" TRADING STATEMENT Prior to tomorrow's Annual General Meeting, the Board of the Company is pleasedto update the market with the following Trading Statement: "In the first quarter of 2008, the Company has continued to build on the strongperformance achieved in 2007. Turnover (unaudited) for the first three months of2008 was approximately 10% higher than for the same period last year. Good progress is being made in signing up new overseas agents and IndependentFinancial Advisers to increase both sales and our brand awarenessinternationally. Customer recruitment to our e-mail database is up 12% in the first quarter inline with our marketing strategy to build on the strong responses achieved in2007 to our e-mail "newsletter" sales approach. The quality of our stockholding has been further enhanced with two majoracquisitions in the first quarter including a £1 million collection of rarestamps from Great Britain and an extensive collection of Indian States stampsfor £0.25m. Current uncertainty in the financial markets has strengthened the case forinvesting in alternative asset classes, which include rare stamps and historicalsignatures. As a result, the Company is witnessing an increased demand for itsinvestment products. As reported, we had nearly 4 million visitors to our Internet sites last year.Orders through our website were 60% higher in the first quarter of 2008 comparedto the same period last year. The redesign of www.stanleygibbons.com is nearlycomplete and is due to go live shortly. We expect that the improvedpresentation, usability and functionality will provide the platform to furtherincrease growth in sales from this medium. The strength of our stockholding together with positive market conditions incollectibles as an asset class gives us confidence that we will continue toachieve sustainable growth in turnover and profitability during 2008. Subject to approval at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting, the Company'sfinal dividend of 2.75p net per share will be paid to Shareholders on 28 April2008 and our interim results for the six months ending 30 June 2008 will beannounced on 8 August 2008. For further information: Seymour Pierce Ltd, NOMAD/ Broker Tel: +44 (0) 20 7107 8000Jonathan Wright Bishopsgate Communications Ltd, Financial PR Tel: +44 (0) 20 7562 3350Jenni Herbert/Nick Farmerstanleygibbons@bishopsgatecommunications.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange