Famous name seeks stamp of approval
By Jane Bradley
The Scotsman (21.03.09) - STAMPS and collectables firm Stanley Gibbons plans to spin off a separate investment arm regulated by the Financial Services Authority to cash in on the number of people opting to put their cash into alternative funds.
Reporting its full-year results, the company said yesterday that record low savings rates and the weak pound were helping to boost demand for its products and alternative investments, despite a drop in profits in 2008.
Currently, Stanley Gibbons, which is around a quarter owned by a group of Scottish funds, including Standard Life and Artemis,
offers a range of investment products including guaranteed minimum return contracts.
But Edinburgh-born chief executive Mike Hall revealed yesterday that the firm wanted to formalise and expand the investments side of its business.
He said: "We want to become more regulated and create a separate financial services division which has the type of investments which would appeal to experts and general investors. That would open us up to a whole range of opportunities."
He said it would be another year before the firm was in a position to approach the FSA about the idea, but added that he would not rule out basing the financial services division in Scotland.
A spokesman for the FSA said he was not aware of any similar funds under regulation by the watchdog. He added: "We would wait to see what they are going to suggest. If Stanley Gibbons, or anyone else, was to apply for FSA regulation, we would consider their application."
FSA regulation would give consumers greater protection and propel the stamp market into the mainstream investment world.
The company yesterday admitted profits fell 18 per cent from £4.5 million to £3.7m due to last year's "apprehension and uncertainty" over investments in general, but added that in recent months, trading was booming. Sales dropped slightly – to £19.4m from £20.2m in 2007.
Hall said that the 2008 figures had been skewed by panic over any kind of investment.
He said: "I remember the day that the Icelandic banking crisis hit, the phones went mad. People pulled out of investments because they just didn't know what was going to happen. Now, they are calming down and beginning to see stamps as an alternative form of wealth management."
The company added that the "baby boomer" generation was now reaching the age of starting serious collecting, which had helped boost customer numbers by 17,570 in 2008.
Martin Bralsford, non-executive chairman, added: "Our business remains robust and has a market position that cannot be easily replicated by our competitors. "
He added: "With banks now offering negligible, and in some cases zero, interest on savings, we are seeing heightened attention on our investment products."
(Quelle:
http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/business/Famous-name-seeks-stamp-of.5095343.jp)---
Dazu schreibt Sharecast.com am 19.03.09:
Stamps dealer Stanley Gibbons saw its share price take a dive when it issued a profit warning in January.
“Whilst the reported outcome for the year is likely to show turnover broadly in line with that reported in 2007, the resulting profit before tax is now estimated to be below earlier market expectations,” it said in a statement on 20 January. The expected shortfall was largely due to deferral of some 2008 revenue into 2009,
when the one-year money-back guarantee expires. ---
Bei den genannten Investment Produkten mit Mindestverzinsung könnte es sich um Briefmarken handeln. Wer kennt die tatsächlichen Hintergründe ?