Art Market Monitor

Global Coverage ~ Unique Analysis

  • AMMpro
  • AMM Fantasy Collecting Game
  • Podcast
  • Contact Us

Art Agency Partners Revenue Revealed

August 8, 2016 by Marion Maneker

Sotheby's Q2 Income

Sotheby’s current earnings report reveals some of the composition of the company’s revenue. Remember that one of the most important goals for Sotheby’s is to broaden its revenue base. The first driver of that growth has been the Sotheby’s Financial Services which continues to show growth despite a lower average loan book.

For the first time Sotheby’s is breaking out the revenue from Art Agency, Partners, the advisory firm Sotheby’s purchased for $50m at the beginning of the year. AAP’s revenues are reported under the “Other” line item. The revenues would seem to be around $3.4m for the first half of the year suggesting a yearly run rate of $7+m. (NB: Sotheby’s reported $3.728m in revenue for “Other” which includes AAP’s revenue. In 2015, they reported $335k in revenue. Assuming some “Other” revenue recurred, it is safer to subtract that amount from the $3.728m reported and come up with a figure of ~$3.4m for H1 and $7+m for the full year.)

Growing that segment of revenues will be a real tell for Sotheby’s management. If they can scale those relationships and fees—not an easy management task by any means—it will represent a meaningful growth in the business beyond auction commissions and private sales.

(Update: Several commenters on Twitter have suggested that Sotheby’s acquisition of AAP has yielded many other benefits besides the advisory revenue. That is entirely correct. Sotheby’s made clear when it acquired AAP that it had multiple ambitions, including bringing AAP’s principals into the auction and private sales process to over see the “Fine Art’ Division. Nevertheless, the advisory business itself is an important step in the evolution of what an auction house can be. Namely, as tangible assets become a more important part of the global financial equation, Sotheby’s is hoping to create an analogue to the large money center banks which offer wealth management advisory services as well as transactional and investment banking services. AAP’s advisory business is their move in that direction. It’s growth bears watching for reasons that go beyond Sotheby’s. And Sotheby’s has helpfully provided us with a line item in their financial reporting that gives us the opportunity to loosely track the progress of this division.)

More from Art Market Monitor

  • The Global Liquidity Glut May Be Coming to an End but Art Prices Aren’t the IndicatorThe Global Liquidity Glut May Be Coming to an End but Art Prices Aren’t the Indicator
  • Bonhams 19th C Sale = £2.8mBonhams 19th C Sale = £2.8m
  • Chicago HopeChicago Hope
  • Wealthy Chinese Looking for Assets AbroadWealthy Chinese Looking for Assets Abroad
  • Perelman Revealed as Seller of Miro, Matisse Valued at $53 M. Coming to Sotheby’sPerelman Revealed as Seller of Miro, Matisse Valued at $53 M. Coming to Sotheby’s
  • Sotheby's Day Sale HighlightsSotheby's Day Sale Highlights

Filed Under: General

About Marion Maneker

Want to get Art Market Monitor‘s posts sent to you in our email? Sign up below by clicking on the Subscribe button.

Top Posts

  • A Season of Improvisation: Fall 2020 New York Modern and Contemporary Art Auction Analysis
  • Keith Haring’s 1989 Retrospect Comes to Sotheby’s London Prints Sale
  • Tony Podesta's Secret Art Buying
  • Four of Picasso's Women Valued at $28m Come to Christie's from Rose-Walters Collection
  • Norman Rockwell's Not Gay. But Is He a Great Artist?
  • Login
  • Roy Lichtenstein’s Top Ten Auction Prices
  • Aboudia, Zemba Luzamba, Dickens Otieno Anchor Contemporary African Art Sale at Artcurial in Marrakesh
  • David Hockney's $20m Pacific Coast Highway & Santa Monica
  • Selection Bias In Art Is What Creates Value
  • About Us/ Contact
  • Podcast
  • AMMpro
  • Newsletter
  • FAQ

twitterfacebooksoundcloud
Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
California Privacy Rights
Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Advertise on Art Market Monitor