RAPAPORT...  Sotheby's third-quarter revenue fell 41 percent to $44.9 million and it managed to reduce expenses 38 percent to $83.2 million during the period. The auction house's revenue decrease reflected the economics of the marketplace as well as an 80 percent decline in net auction sales, given that Sotheby's held its London Contemporary Art sales in the second quarter this year, rather than during the third quarter. Sotheby's reported a quarterly loss of $57.8 million, or 89 cents per share, compared with a loss of $47 million, or 73 cents a share, in the third quarter of 2008. The loss included a higher income tax provision for the current period, resulting in an expense of $10.8 million in the third quarter of 2009, compared with a benefit of $21.2 million in 2008.

Auction and related revenues for the first nine months of fiscal 2009 fell 49 percent to $266.7 million. Sotheby's recorded a loss of $80.1 million for this category, compared with profits of $35.8 million for the first three quarters of 2008. Bill Ruprecht, Sotheby's president and chief executive, explained that before taxes, the auction house's third-quarter loss improved by 31 percent, moving from $68.7 a year ago to $47.1 million.

"Additionally," Ruprecht noted, "we are on track to exceed the cost savings of $160 million in 2009 as compared to 2008, a target we committed to when the economic shocks of last fall reverberated around the world and severely impacted our business.

"We have also continued our focus on revenue enhancement strategies as evidenced by the continued increase in auction commission margins to 22.7 percent in the third quarter of 2009," Ruprecht added. "This is a 49 percent increase from the prior period and brought an incremental $9.7 million or 22 percent of total revenues for the period."

LH