Strong growth in the ancillary services provided by Auction Technology Group prompted a flurry of stock market bidding at the FTSE 250 company.
Shares in the company, which enables auction houses to hold their sales online, surged after it revealed a 6 per cent increase in sales to $86 million for the six months to the end of March. Operating profit was down by 11 per cent to $10.5 million, but that was as expected.
Gross merchandise value, the total cost of goods auctioned by its services, slid by 17 per cent to $1.9 billion because of lower prices for industrial machinery and weaker markets in art and antiques. However, analysts and traders focused on Auction Technology Group’s success in winning more revenues from extra
