Update on Sotheby below:
"Comment this is a sign of the times when even Sothebys has declined to the level at which it went public in the USA in the 1990's." BID was at 6.77 on Thursday.
"Market Scan
Downturn Bangs Up Sotheby's
Carl Gutierrez, 02.26.09, 10:16 PM ET
Sotheby's was doing well until Lehman Brothers went under, and took the art world--and the auction house's fourth quarter--with it.
“The global economic crisis which erupted in the autumn of 2008 had a major impact on our business in the fourth quarter,” said Bill Ruprecht, chief executive of Sotheby’s.
According to Ruprecht, during the first three quarters of the year, the company's aggregate auction sales were at record levels. After October, though, all its auctions around the world experienced declines.
Sales dropped 51.9% during the company's fourth quarter, which ended on Dec. 31. As Ruprecht's commentary would suggest, most of the credit for the quarter's ugliness was given to the 46.0% drop in auction sales to $1.0 billion, from $1.9 billion recorded in the previous year's corresponding period.
The company also said there were significant auction guarantee losses and inventory writedowns. All of this, according to the company, was due to a downturn in the international art market that began in September 2008, which itself resulted from a weakening global economy, as well as turbulence in the global financial and credit markets. (See "Slowdown In The Art Market.")
All told, Sotheby's reported a loss of $8.5 million, or 13 cents per share, from $102.4 million, or $1.59 per share. Sales dropped to $166.2 million, from $345.8 million.
Its operating income, when special items are excluded, fell 88.1% to $16.8 million, from $141.6 million.
Ruprecht kept a confident tone looking to the future, saying that Sotheby's begins the year with a "healthy" financial condition. "We are well-positioned to operate in this very challenging economic environment," Ruprecht said.
The tough times have ravaged the company's stock value, which have fallen 74.5% since September. What investors are left will have to wait until Friday to gauge the market's reaction to Thursday's report, as Sotheby's does not trade after-hours.
Sotheby's stock fell 4.9%, or 35 cents, to $6.77, on Thursday." |
