16 Jan 2014 07:00
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 £17 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 £45.3 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 £40 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