Profits rise 24% as Gibbons puts stamp on Chinese market

COLLECTIBLES firm Stanley Gibbons yesterday posted a 10 per cent rise in profits as it pinned its hopes on an orders boost from the Chinese stamp market.

The company, which sells everything from rare Penny Blacks to autographs by Marilyn Monroe, reported pre-tax profits of 1.6 million for the six months to 30 June after sales rose 24 per cent to 11.9m.

Gibbons hopes more growth will come from the development of its website and entrance into China, where it has just secured a "top quality" collection of investment grade stamps.

It expects to invoice 1m of orders for Chinese stamps in the third quarter and is working with trading partners to improve its market position.

Chairman Martin Bralsford said: "Further trips to the Far East are planned for September and we intend to develop opportunities there to exploit the size and strength of the market."

The company said the Chinese stamp section of its June auction achieved prices between three and ten times its estimates.

"This highlights the high level of demand within the Chinese market and illustrates the potential investment returns available," Bralsford added.

The company has also seen a resurgence in demand for British stamps, helped by a rise in the number of collectors entering the market in search of investment opportunities.

Sales to collectors of British stamps surged 74 per cent in the first half of this year.

Autographs, records and related memorabilia were 25 per cent higher with the profit contribution ahead 4 per cent.

The company has benefited from the refurbishment of its flagship store on the Strand in London, completed in time for May's International Festival of Stamps held in the UK capital.

The company was founded in London in 1856 by Edward Stanley Gibbons, who built the business after buying a sackful of rare stamps from two sailors just back from South Africa.