Sotheby's released their financial reports today, and they were not very good, especially when compared to earnings form a year ago. Although I am not sure if many expected the results to be strong anyway. The Wall Street Journal is reporting earning fell 87% in the second quarter of 2009. Now some good news, the quarter was profitable and share prices actually rose as the results were better than expected. Sothebys earned $12.2 million, or 18 cents a share, down from the second quarter of 2008 from $95.3 million, or $1.41 a share. A rather large, but not necessarily unexpected decline. The article states auction commissions rose from 15.1% to 21.3% based on policy changes and belt tightening at the auction house.The WSJ article states Sotheby's shares rose 4.9% to $15.72 in after-hours trading, as revenue topped Wall Street's expectations. The stock has regained nearly three-quarters of its value this year, but it is still far below its all-time high of more than $58 in 2007. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected per-share earnings of 28 cents on revenue of $153 million. The company has seen its credit ratings downgraded to junk status amid concerns about near-term covenant violations and a decline in the world-wide art-auction market.
To read the full WSJ article click HERE.
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