However, the rise in buyer’s premiums and vendor’s commissions kept what could have been a bigger dip in check, and catalogue production and mailing costs fell in line with the drop in sales, boosted further by a more cost-effective production system.
The tables below show how the company are performing in the second quarter and first half of this year compared to last, with chief executive Bill Ruprecht anticipating further uplifts as a result of restructuring, cost cutting and improved consigning. The completion of the sale/leaseback deal on their New York headquarters in February improved the company’s liquidity but added to depreciation costs and interest payments for the second quarter. Unfavourable currency exchange rates also took their toll. Market conditions also hit Sotheby’s real estate business.
Sotheby’s ride out events and look to the autumn
THE Iraq war and the SARS epidemic hit Sotheby’s consignments and sales in the second quarter of this year, with total revenues down $8m on the same period last year.
