BID Sothebys

Auction house Sotheby's posted a bigger loss in the latest quarter, though revenue fell less than expected.

"Underneath our seasonally low level of sales, there were encouraging but tentative indicators that the market could be looking for a rallying point," said Chief Executive Tad Smith, noting that the results for the September quarter were "not expected to be good."

Last year, the New York-based company named Mr. Smith its CEO amid increasing clamor from activist shareholders for a leaner, more profitable business.

Net auction sales and auction commission revenue were hurt by a change in the timing of the summer Contemporary Art sales in London which were held in the second quarter of 2016 after occurring in the third quarter in 2015.

Over all, Sotheby's reported a loss of $54.5 million, compared with a loss of $17.9 million last year. On a per-share basis, the loss was 99 cents compared with 26 cents a year ago.

Sotheby's said that on an adjusted basis, excluding certain items, the loss was 78 cents a share. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected a loss of 62 cents a share.

Revenue skidded 34% to $91.5 million, but came in above analysts' forecasts of $82 million.

In July, a Chinese life insurance company run by the grandson-in-law of Chairman Mao Zedong disclosed it bought a 13.5% stake in Sotheby's. The move made Taikang Life Insurance Co., one of China's biggest insurance companies, the largest shareholder of Sotheby's, eclipsing stakes held by hedge-fund managers such as Third Point's Dan Loeb.

Write to Joshua Jamerson at joshua.jamerson@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 07, 2016 10:05 ET (15:05 GMT)

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