Sotheby's said its fourth-quarter earnings rose 37% as the
seller of fine art reported double-digit revenue growth.
Sotheby's has been battling with two activist hedge funds since
last summer. In the latest development, Daniel Loeb of Third Point
LLC earlier on Thursday ramped up his fight with Sotheby's,
nominating himself and two other candidates for election to the art
auction house's board. In a response, Sotheby's said it was
"disappointed" in the hedge fund's decision and said it already had
offered Mr. Loeb a board seat.
For the latest quarter, Sotheby's reported a profit of $90.8
million, or $1.30 a share, up from $66.1 million, or 96 cents a
share, a year earlier. The year-earlier period included $15 million
in debt-extinguishment expenses. Revenue increased 17% to $339.2
million.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected per-share profit of
$1.40 and revenue of $352 million.
Net auction sales increased 28% as autumn sales of Asian Art in
Hong Kong and Impressionist Art in New York rose significantly from
a year earlier.
Write to Tess Stynes at tess.stynes@wsj.com
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