Stanley Gibbons trading improves further in second half

Stanley Gibbons Group said in an update on Tuesday that trading in its second half continued to improve across all business areas, with revenue for the 12 months ended 31 March expected to be about £12m.

The AIM-traded collectables dealer said that, while the reduced impact of Covid-related restrictions and consumer behaviour “undoubtedly” played a part, there were a “variety of internal elements” that also influenced the performance.

It said its philatelic - collectable postage stamps - division performed well in both the auction and dealing side, with turnover and profitability “significantly” improved.

Both parts of the business showed good momentum in recent months, the board said, with the second half being “significantly ahead” of the first half, and the directors expecting further progress to be made in the coming year.

The numismatic - collectable coins - division, which traded strongly through Covid-19, benefitted from the return of the auction business, holding two successful auctions in the second half and growing momentum in receiving consignments.

Stanley Gibbons said the dealing side suffered slightly as a result of capacity constraints around the time of the auctions, but the firm said it was taking steps to ensure that was much reduced going forward.

The underlying business was continuing to trade well.

After a “much-reduced” catalogue production schedule in recent years, the publishing division was again regularly producing stamp catalogues.

Combined with increased efficiency in that part of the business, market share gains in magazines and further progress on the digital product side, the board said it expected to see continued improvement in performance here.

For much of the year, the shop was “noticeably quieter” as a result of Covid-19, but in recent months that had abated and the company said it was hopeful of seeing a continued improvement.

Through its partner Showpiece Technologies, in which it owns a 20% stake, fractional ownership of the ‘1c Magenta’ rare stamp was made available in November.

That attracted more than 1,000 customers in the “first couple of weeks”, and led to significant publicity and interest both in the specific venture and in the hobby as a whole.

Since then, Stanley Gibbons noted that Showpiece had also offered a second item - an Edward VIII penny coin - which sold out in less than four days.

They continued to look across a broad range of categories for further items which would interest and appeal to collectors.

Having “hopefully seen the back of” the most pronounced impacts of Covid-19, the board said all businesses were now having to deal with the prospects of levels of inflation not seen in the UK for several decades.

It said it had started working on mitigating actions, and was hopeful that the impact could be minimised.

There was also some evidence to suggest that both coins and stamps did well during periods of heightened inflation, but the directors said they were “by no means” taking that for granted.

“We are encouraged by elements of progress we have made in each of the operating businesses however it is clear that in order to really make the most of our wonderful brands and the rebuilding work of the past few years, we are going to have to work harder, faster and more aggressively,” said group chief executive officer Graham Shircore.

“Our ambitions go far beyond delivering continuous incremental improvement.”

At 0913 BST, shares in the Stanley Gibbons Group were up 2.33% at 2.2p.