Noble Investments posted its annual results Friday, revealing a 23 per cent rise in pre-tax profits.

The UK-based company, which auctions collectables including coins and stamps, reported £3.7m profits to the year ended August,up from £3.0m the previous year.

Basic earnings per share were up 24% to 18.89p, compared to 15.27p in 2011.

The group's cash position rose over 50% to £2.25m as result of positive operating cash flow and auction proceeds.

However, revenues were down 2.3% to £12.35m from £12.65 for the period, due in part to a quieter year in trading.

The retail division raked in £1.2m, down from £2.7m the year before.

"However, the reduced retail activity meant that the retail specialists were able to spend considerable time and effort during the year, cataloguing the auction consignments, which benefited the auction division," said Managing Director Ian Goldbart.

Last year the group launched Baldwin's website and also updated the Apex Philtalic website.

Administrative expenses for the year were up 17% at £3.2m, partially due to increased expenditure on auction catalogue production, travel, promotion and advertising.

"It is pleasing to be able to report another year of growth in both profits and total dividend," Goldbart said.

"The group's strong balance sheet and strength in depth of specialists gives us a significant advantage over many of our competitors.

"We continue to make progress in the pursuit of an appropriate acquisition and hope to make a further announcement in due course. In summary, we have a strong auction book for 2013 and are well placed to continue to build upon the foundations laid in the last decade."


Wealth manager Charles Stanley Group reported a record 4.6% increase in total client funds under management during the last quarter, according to an interim management statement Friday.

The company posted £16.36bn as at December 31st, up from £15.64bn in the previous quarter.

Results were driven in part by discretionary managed funds which rose 7.1% to £5.73bn.

Revenue jumped 13.5% to £31.1m in the third quarter of 2012, following a poor performance in the same period the year earlier.

"This is a good result but reflects a comparison with what was a very poor quarter last year. Challenging market conditions and economic uncertainty had depressed financial activities and transaction volumes in the three months to December 2011," the company said.

Business has since turned around as transaction volumes stabilised.

Commission revenue increased 14.1% quarter-on-quarter along with fee income which rose 13.1% year-on-year and represents 61% of revenues.

"This improvement in revenue occurred across all divisions with financial services posting an increase of 14.8% and Charles Stanley Securities an increase of 16.2% compared with the same quarter last year," the company said.

"We anticipate that economic and market conditions will remain uncertain but are confident that our broadly based business mix and financial strength will allow us to continue to produce a creditable performance."

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