Scholium swings to loss after stamp collector's shaky start

Scholium reported on Friday that it swung to a loss in the first half of the year due to charges associated with the startup of collectable stamp specialists Mayfair Philatelics.

For the six-month period ended 30 September the rare book trader recorded a loss before tax of £56,000, down from a profit of £61,000 the same period last year, as revenue crept 0.8% lower to £3.3m and the outfit suffered a £0.1m loss attributed to Mayfair.

Jasper Allen, chairman of Scholium, said: "Our new stamp venture, Mayfair Philatelics Limited incurred a loss as expected, but will improve its revenues in the second half due to it holding three of its four auctions a year in Scholium's second six months."

However, when without taking into account last year’s anomalous sale of a part interest in its Russian book collection, revenue for the period rose by 20% and gross profit grew 12% to £1.2m.

Cash and cash equivalents at 30 September stood at just £5,000, down from £0.1m at the same point last year.

"It has been pleasing that the group's main trading subsidiary, Shapero Rare Books, and Scholium Trading continue to trade profitably in this first six months to 30 September 2018," said Allen.

Shapero’s profit before tax jumped by 28% to £87,000, while art and paintings specialists Scholium Trading saw a 31% drop in pretax profit after a 70% fall in revenue, though the company acknowledged that its trading schedule is “more irregular” than other businesses in the group.

Scholium’s shares were unchanged at 45.00p at 0846 GMT.