STANLEY GIBBONS 
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Company Stanley Gibbons Group PLC
TIDM SGI Headline Trading Update Released 07:00 16-Jan-2014 Number 7636X07
RNS Number : 7636X Stanley Gibbons Group PLC
16 January 2014
For releas e at 7am on Thurs day 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.
The Board expects that the Group's sales and profitability for the year ended
31 December 2013 wil be in line with market expectations.
The Group balance sheet position as at 31 December 2013 includes net cash balances of approximately £17 mil ion and a high quality stockholding of rare col ectibles. 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 successful y completed the acquisition of Noble Investments
(UK) plc ("Noble") in November 2013 for a total consideration of £45.3 mil ion. 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 mil ion.
Noble comprises Baldwin's (the global y respected brand in coins, established in 1872), Dreweatts (an auctioneer of antiques and col ectibles such as watches, fine wine and jewel ery, 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 col ectibles auction brand.
The benefits of the acquisition are already being realised through cross sel ing 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 sel ing opportunities across the enlarged Group wil further increase sales in the year ahead.
Work has commenced on delivering integration cost savings and the implementation of improved ef iciencies 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 mil ion of sales being achieved, including buyer's premium. The New York sale included over $1 mil ion of Russian gold coins, which forms the first part of the substantial "Linden Col ection" to be auctioned by Baldwin's in New York, Hong Kong and London during 2014.
Our online technical development projects, which are focused on launching a global col ectibles 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 ful y exploit the opportunities from the launch of our online marketplace.
Trading remains strong with high levels of demand both from investors and high net worth col ectors looking to secure premium quality col ectibles.
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 sel ers.
Our online development plans to create a global online hub for buying and sel ing col ectibles wil 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 strategical y important acquisition of Noble, whilst ensuring that our online technical projects also remained a key focus."
For further information, contact:
Michael Hal , Chief Executive +44 (0) 1534 766711
Donal Duf , Chief Operating Of icer and Finance Director
Dan Webster/Matthew Armitt/Richard Brown +44 (0) 20 7418 8900
Tavistock Communications
John West/Teresa Towner +44 (0) 20 7920 3150
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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