AG Mortgage Investment Trust, Inc. Reports Fourth Quarter Earnings

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–
AG Mortgage Investment Trust, Inc. (“MITT” or the “Company”) (NYSE: MITT – News) today reported net income for the quarter ended December 31, 2011 of $5.8 million and net book value of $20.52 per share.
FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

• Net income of $5.8 million, or 0.58 per share for the fourth quarter
• Net income of $19.0 million, or $3.20 per share for the period from March 7, 2011 to December 31, 2011
• Core Earnings of $6.5 million or $0.65 per share for the quarter
• Core Earnings of $12.4 million, or $1.24 per share for the period from July 6, 2011 (the consummation of our initial public offering) to December 31, 2011
• Net realized gains of $2.9 million, or $0.29 per share, on Agency RMBS for the fourth quarter and $7.2 million, or $0.72 per share, for the period from July 6, 2011 to December 31, 2011
• Net realized losses of ($3.5) million, or ($0.35) per share, on credit investments for the fourth quarter and for the period from July 6, 2011 to December 31, 2011
• $0.70 per share dividend declared for the fourth quarter and $1.10 per share dividends declared for the period ended December 31, 2011
• Approximately $0.46 per share of undistributed taxable income as of December 31, 2011(1)
• $20.52 net book value per share as of December 31, 2011(1)

INVESTMENT HIGHLIGHTS

• $1.4 billion investment portfolio value as of December 31, 2011 (2) (4)
• 5.86x leverage as of December 31, 2011 (2) (3)
• 91.0% Agency RMBS investment portfolio (4)
• 9.0% credit investment portfolio, comprising Non-Agency RMBS, CMBS and ABS assets (4)
• 5.0% constant prepayment rate (“CPR”) for the fourth quarter on the Agency RMBS investment portfolio (5)
• 2.25% net interest margin as of December 31, 2011 (6)

FOURTH QUARTER 2011 AND PERIOD ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2011 RESULTS
AG Mortgage Investment Trust, Inc. is an actively managed REIT that opportunistically invests in a diversified risk-adjusted portfolio of Agency RMBS, Non-Agency RMBS, CMBS and ABS. For the fourth quarter, the Company had net income of $5.8 million, or $0.58 per diluted share, and Core Earnings of $6.5 million, or $0.65 per diluted share. For the period from March 7, 2011 to December 31, 2011, the Company had net income of $19.0 million, or $3.20 per diluted share (7), and for the period from July 6, 2011 to December 31, 2011 (“period ended December 31, 2011”), the Company had Core Earnings of $12.4 million, or $1.24 per diluted share. Core Earnings represents a non-GAAP financial measure and is defined as net income (loss) excluding (i) net realized gain (loss) on investments and terminations on derivative contracts and (ii) net unrealized appreciation (depreciation) on investments and derivative contacts. (See “Non-GAAP Financial Measure” below for further detail on Core Earnings)
David Roberts, Chief Executive Officer, commented “We are pleased to announce our fourth quarter earnings. During the quarter, Core Earnings increased to $0.65 per share and we announced our first full quarter dividend of $0.70 per share. In addition to meeting our financial goals, we continued to diversify funding relationships and in January we were able to successfully complete an equity raise which has improved our stock’s liquidity. We are proud of our accomplishments over the last two quarters and look forward to the opportunities ahead.”
“Amidst uncertainty in the global markets, European liquidity difficulties and year-end funding pressures, we continued to optimize our Agency portfolio, opportunistically rotate the credit portfolio and retain capital for potential market dislocations,” said Jonathan Lieberman, Chief Investment Officer. “While Agency RMBS yields have compressed, we believe the low interest rate environment and a carefully selected investment portfolio will continue to support attractive risk-adjusted returns. Over the course of the quarter, we rotated a significant portion of the Agency portfolio into securities with more favorable prepayment attributes to further mitigate prepayment risk. Allocations to credit securities were concentrated in less volatile short duration Non-Agency securities and CMBS tranches with superior intrinsic value. We believe MITT is well positioned to continue to produce sustainable returns and take advantage of the opportunities ahead in both the Agency RMBS and credit markets. With the success of the European Central Bank’s Long-Term Refinancing Operation, funding risks have materially declined and we anticipate deploying capital in a more aggressive style. New capital from our January equity transaction allows greater latitude to the investment team to selectively increase our capital allocation to credit opportunities.”

KEY STATISTICS (2)
		Weighted Average at						Weighted Average
		December 31, 2011						at September 30, 2011
Investment portfolio		$	1,388,006,801					$	1,332,205,377
Repurchase agreements		$	1,189,303,407					$	1,126,859,885
Stockholders’ equity		$	206,283,920					$	207,413,703
Leverage ratio		5.86x			(3	)		5.70x			(3	)
Swap ratio			66	%	(8	)			51	%	(8	)
Yield on investment portfolio			3.16	%	(9	)			3.26	%	(9	)
Cost of funds			0.91	%	(10	)			0.82	%	(10	)
Net interest margin			2.25	%	(6	)			2.44	%	(6	)
Management fees			1.49	%	(11	)			1.43	%	(11	)
Other operating expenses			1.57	%	(12	)			1.58	%	(12	)
Book value, per share		$	20.52		(1	)		$	20.64		(1	)
Dividend, per share		$	0.70					$	0.40

INVESTMENT PORTFOLIO
The following summarizes the Company’s investment portfolio as of December 31, 2011 (2):

														Weighted Average
		Current Face			Premium (Discount)				Amortized Cost		Fair Value			Coupon		Yield
Agency RMBS:
15-Year Fixed Rate		$	738,344,948		$	22,525,476			$	760,870,424	$	772,310,909		3.32	%	2.62	%
20-Year Fixed Rate			227,566,114			7,362,001				234,928,115		237,586,837		3.69	%	3.00	%
30-Year Fixed Rate			232,890,169			12,162,512				245,052,681		246,679,482		3.99	%	3.18	%
Interest Only			43,505,596			(34,046,500	)			9,459,096		6,636,871		5.50	%	3.45	%
Non-Agency RMBS			102,246,062			(8,980,754	)			93,265,308		90,368,316		5.90	%	6.31	%
CMBS			19,500,000			(5,411,965	)			14,088,035		13,537,851		5.88	%	13.44	%
ABS			21,046,150			(34,497	)			21,011,653		20,886,535		4.50	%	4.50	%
Total		$	1,385,099,039		$	(6,423,727	)		$	1,378,675,312	$	1,388,006,801		3.81	%	3.16	%

As of December 31, 2011, the weighted average yield on the Company’s investment portfolio was 3.16% and its weighted average cost of funds was 0.91%. This resulted in a net interest margin of 2.25% as of December 31, 2011. (6)
The CPR for the Agency RMBS portfolio was 5.0% for the fourth quarter and 5.0% for the month of December 2011. (5)
The weighted average cost basis of the Agency investment portfolio, excluding interest-only securities, was 103.5% as of December 31, 2011. The amortization of premiums (net of any accretion of discounts) on Agency securities for the fourth quarter was $1.9 million, or $(0.19) per share. The unamortized net Agency premium as of December 31, 2011 was $42.0 million.
Premiums and discounts associated with purchases of the Company’s securities are amortized or accreted into interest income over the estimated life of such securities, using the effective yield method. Since the cost basis of the Company’s Agency securities, excluding interest-only securities, exceeds the underlying principal balance by 3.5% as of December 31, 2011, slower actual and projected prepayments can have a meaningful positive impact, while faster actual or projected prepayments can have a meaningful negative impact on the Company’s asset yields.
We have also entered into “to-be-announced” (“TBA”) positions to facilitate the future purchase of Agency RMBS. Under the terms of these TBAs, the Company agrees to purchase, for future delivery, Agency RMBS with certain principal and interest specifications and certain types of underlying collateral, but the particular Agency RMBS to be delivered are not identified until shortly before (generally two days) the TBA settlement date. At December 31, 2011, we had $100 million net notional amount of TBA positions with a net weighted average purchase price of 103.8%. As of December 31, 2011, our TBA portfolio had a net weighted average yield at purchase of 3.01% and a net weighted average settlement date of February 5, 2012. We have recorded derivative assets of $1.4 million and derivative liabilities of $0.5 million, reflecting these TBA positions.
LEVERAGE AND HEDGING ACTIVITIES
The investment portfolio is financed with repurchase agreements as of December 31, 2011 as summarized below:

		Agency RMBS						Non-Agency RMBS / CMBS / Other
Repurchase Agreements Maturing Within:		Balance			Weighted Average Rate			Balance			Weighted Average Rate
30 days or less		$	652,002,000		0.35	%		$	68,187,000		1.74	%
31-60 days			334,825,407		0.42	%			1,749,000		1.95	%
61-90 days			118,340,000		0.37	%			14,200,000		1.80	%
Greater than 90 days			-		-				-		-
Total / Weighted Average		$	1,105,167,407		0.37	%		$	84,136,000		1.75	%

As of December 31, 2011, the Company had entered into repurchase agreements with twenty-one counterparties. We continue to rebalance our exposures to counterparties and add new counterparties.
We have entered into interest rate swap agreements to hedge our portfolio. The Company’s swaps as of December 31, 2011 are summarized as follows:

Maturity		Notional Amount			Weighted Average Pay Rate			Weighted Average Receive Rate*			Weighted Average Years to Maturity
2012		$	100,000,000		0.354	%		0.285	%		0.14
2013			182,000,000		0.535	%		0.286	%		1.78
2014			204,500,000		1.000	%		0.395	%		2.54
2015			184,025,000		1.412	%		0.380	%		3.56
2016			87,500,000		1.625	%		0.328	%		4.63
2018			35,000,000		1.728	%		0.511	%		6.88
Total/Wtd Avg		$	793,025,000		1.008	%		0.350	%		2.72
* Approximately 50% of our interest rate swap notionals reset monthly based on one-month LIBOR and 50% of our interest rate swap notionals reset quarterly based on three-month LIBOR.

TAXABLE INCOME
The primary differences between taxable income and GAAP net income include (i) unrealized gains and losses associated with investment and derivative portfolios are marked-to-market in current income for GAAP purposes, but excluded from taxable income until realized or settled, (ii) temporary differences related to amortization of net premiums paid on investments (iii) the timing and amount of deductions related to stock-based compensation and (iv) excise taxes. As of December 31, 2011, the Company had undistributed taxable income of approximately $0.46 per share.
DIVIDEND
On December 14, 2011, the Company declared a dividend of $0.70 per share of common stock to stockholders of record as of December 30, 2011 and paid such dividend on January 27, 2012. The Company declared dividends of $1.10 per share for the period ended December 31, 2011.
SUBSEQUENT EVENT
On January 24, 2012, the Company completed a follow-on offering of 5,000,000 shares of its common stock and subsequently issued an additional 750,000 shares of common stock pursuant to the underwriters’ over-allotments at a price of $19.00 per share, for gross proceeds of approximately $109.3 million. Net proceeds to the Company from the offerings were approximately $104.1 million, net of issuance costs of approximately $5.2 million.
SHAREHOLDER CALL
The Company invites shareholders, prospective shareholders and analysts to attend MITT’s fourth quarter earnings conference call on March 1, 2012 at 11:00 am Eastern Time. The shareholder call can be accessed by dialing (888) 424-8151 (U.S. domestic) or (847) 585-4422 (international). Please enter code number 8732511#.
A presentation will accompany the conference call and will be available on the Company’s website at www.agmit.com. Select the Q4 2011 Earnings Presentation link to download and print the presentation in advance of the shareholder call.
An audio replay of the shareholder call combined with the presentation will be made available on our website after the call. The replay will be available until midnight on March 15, 2012. If you are interested in hearing the replay, please dial (888) 843-7419 (U.S. domestic) or (630) 652-3042 (international). The conference ID number is 8732511#.
For further information or questions, please contact Allan Krinsman, the Company’s General Counsel, at (212) 883-4180 or akrinsman@angelogordon.com.
ABOUT AG MORTGAGE INVESTMENT TRUST, INC.
AG Mortgage Investment Trust, Inc. is a real estate investment trust that invests in, acquires and manages a diversified portfolio of residential mortgage assets, other real estate-related securities and financial assets. AG Mortgage Investment Trust, Inc. is externally managed and advised by AG REIT Management, LLC, a subsidiary of Angelo, Gordon & Co., L.P., an SEC-registered investment adviser that specializes in alternative investment activities.
Additional information can be found on the Company’s website at www.agmit.com.
ABOUT ANGELO, GORDON & CO.
Angelo, Gordon & Co. was founded in 1988 and has approximately $22 billion under management. Currently, the firm’s investment disciplines encompass five principal areas: (i) distressed debt and leveraged loans, (ii) real estate, (iii) mortgage-backed securities and other structured credit, (iv) private equity and special situations and (v) a number of hedge fund strategies. Angelo, Gordon & Co. employs over 250 employees, including more than 90 investment professionals, and is headquartered in New York, with associated offices in Amsterdam, Chicago, Los Angeles, London, Hong Kong Seoul, Shanghai, Sydney and Tokyo.
FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS
This press release includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are based on estimates, projections, beliefs and assumptions of management of the Company at the time of such statements and are not guarantees of future performance. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties in predicting future results and conditions. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in these forward-looking statements due to a variety of factors, including, without limitation, changes in interest rates, changes in the yield curve, changes in prepayment rates, the availability and terms of financing, changes in the market value of our assets, general economic conditions, market conditions, conditions in the market for Agency securities, and legislative and regulatory changes that could adversely affect the business of the Company. Additional information concerning these and other risk factors are contained in the Company’s most recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Copies are available on the SEC’s website, http://www.sec.gov/. The Company does not undertake or accept any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect any change in its expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.

AG Mortgage Investment Trust, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Consolidated Balance Sheets
			December 31, 2011			April 1, 2011
Assets			(Unaudited)
Real Estate securities, at fair value
Agency – $1,186,149,842 pledged as collateral			$	1,263,214,099		$	-
Non-Agency – $47,227,005 pledged as collateral				58,787,051			-
CMBS – $2,747,080 pledged as collateral				13,537,851			-
ABS – $4,526,620 pledged as collateral				4,526,620			-
Linked transactions, net, at fair value				8,787,180			-
Cash and cash equivalents				35,851,249			1,000
Restricted cash				3,037,055			-
Interest receivable				4,219,640			-
Derivative assets, at fair value				1,428,595			-
Prepaid expenses				317,950			-
Due from broker				341,491
Due from affiliates				104,994			-
Deferred costs				52,176			-
Total Assets			$	1,394,205,951		$	1,000
Liabilities
Repurchase agreements			$	1,150,149,407		$	-
Payable on unsettled trades				18,759,200			-
Interest payable				2,275,138			-
Derivative liabilities, at fair value				7,908,308			-
Dividend payable				7,011,171			-
Due to affiliates				770,341			-
Accrued expenses				668,552			-
Due to broker				379,914			-
Total Liabilities				1,187,922,031			-
Stockholders’ Equity (Deficit)
Common stock, par value $0.01 per share; 450,000,000 and 1,000 shares of common stock authorized and 10,009,958 and 100 shares issued and outstanding at December 31, 2011 and April 1, 2011, respectively				100,100			1
Additional paid-in capital				198,228,694			999
Retained earnings				7,955,126			-
				206,283,920			1,000
Total Liabilities & Equity			$	1,394,205,951		$	1,000

AG Mortgage Investment Trust, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Consolidated Statements of Operations
(Unaudited)
							Period from
			Quarter Ended				March 7, 2011 to
			December 31, 2011				December 31, 2011
Net Interest Income
Interest income			$	10,022,275			$	18,748,669
Interest expense				1,106,097				1,696,344
				8,916,178				17,052,325
Other Income (Loss)
Net realized gain (loss)				(589,747	)			3,701,392
Gain (loss) on linked transactions, net				(1,013,291	)			(808,564	)
Realized loss on periodic interest settlements of interest rate swaps, net				(1,175,788	)			(2,162,290	)
Unrealized gain (loss) on derivative instruments, net				70,663				(6,491,430	)
Unrealized gain (loss) on real estate securities				1,346,237				11,040,692
				(1,361,926	)			5,279,800
Expenses
Management fee to affiliate				770,341				1,512,898
Other operating expenses				811,372				1,566,642
Equity based compensation to affiliate				97,343				176,165
Excise tax				105,724				105,724
				1,784,780				3,361,429
Net Income (Loss)			$	5,769,472			$	18,970,696
Earnings Per Share of Common Stock
Basic			$	0.58			$	3.20
Diluted			$	0.58			$	3.20
Weighted Average Number of Shares of Common Stock Outstanding
Basic				10,009,958				5,933,930
Diluted				10,010,799				5,933,930
Dividends Declared per Share of Common Stock			$	0.70			$	1.10

Non-GAAP Financial Measure
This press release contains Core Earnings, a non-GAAP financial measure. AG Mortgage Investment Trust’s management believes that this non-GAAP measure, when considered with GAAP, provides supplemental information useful in evaluating the results of the Company’s operations. This non-GAAP measure should not be considered a substitute, or superior to, the financial measures calculated in accordance with GAAP. Our GAAP financial results and the reconciliations from these results should be carefully evaluated.
Core Earnings are defined by the Company as net income excluding both realized and unrealized gains (losses) on the sale or termination of securities, including underlying linked transactions and derivatives. As defined, Core Earnings include the net interest earned on these transactions, including credit derivatives, linked transactions, inverse Agency securities, interest rate derivatives or any other investment activity that may earn net interest. One of the objectives of the Company is to generate net income from net interest margin on the portfolio and management uses Core Earnings to measure this objective.
A reconciliation of GAAP net income to Core Earnings for the quarter and period ended December 31, 2011 is set forth below:

						Period from
		Quarter Ended				March 7, 2011 to
		December 31, 2011				December 31, 2011
Net income/loss		$	5,769,472			$	18,970,696
Add (Deduct):
Net realized gain			589,747				(3,701,392	)
Gain/loss on linked transactions, net			1,013,291				808,564
Net interest income on linked transactions			554,729				900,638
Unrealized gain/loss on derivative instruments, net			(70,663	)			6,491,430
Unrealized gain/loss on real estate securities			(1,346,237	)			(11,040,692	)
Core Earnings		$	6,510,339			$	12,429,244

Footnotes
(1) Per share figures are calculated using outstanding shares including all shares granted to our Manager and our independent directors under our equity incentive plans as of quarter end.
(2) Generally when we purchase a security and finance it with a repurchase agreement, the security is included in our assets and the repurchase agreement is separately reflected in our liabilities on our balance sheet. For securities with certain characteristics (including those which are not readily obtainable in the market place) that are purchased and then simultaneously sold back to the seller under a repurchase agreement, US GAAP requires these transactions be netted together and recorded as a forward purchase commitment. Throughout this press release where we disclose our investment portfolio and the repurchase agreements that finance it, including our leverage metrics, we have un-linked the transaction and used the gross presentation as used for all other securities. This presentation is consistent with how the Company’s management evaluates the business, and believes provides the most accurate depiction of the Company’s investment portfolio and financial condition.
(3) Calculated by dividing total repurchase agreements, including $39.2 million included in linked transactions, plus payable on unsettled trades on our GAAP balance sheet by our GAAP stockholders’ equity.
(4) The total investment portfolio is calculated by summing the fair market value of our Agency RMBS, Non-Agency RMBS, CMBS and ABS assets, including linked transactions. The percentage of Agency RMBS and credit investments are calculated by dividing the respective fair market value of each, including linked transactions, by the total investment portfolio.
(5) This represents the weighted average monthly CPRs published during the period for our in-place portfolio during the same period.
(6) Net interest margin is calculated by subtracting the weighted average cost of funds from the weighted average yield for the Company’s investment portfolio, which excludes cash held by the Company. See footnotes (9) and (10) for further detail.
(7) Diluted per share figures are calculated using weighted average outstanding shares in accordance with GAAP. For the period from March 7, 2011 to December 31, 2011, the calculation reflected the impact of 100 shares outstanding from July 1, 2011 through the settlement date of our IPO.
(8) The swap ratio was calculated by dividing the notional value of our interest rate swaps by total repurchase agreements, including those included in linked transactions, plus payable on unsettled trades.
(9) The yield on our investment portfolio during the period represents an effective interest rate, which utilizes all estimates of future cash flows and adjusts for actual prepayment and cash flow activity as of quarter end. This calculation excludes cash held by the Company.
(10) The cost of funds was calculated as the sum of the weighted average rate on the repurchase agreements outstanding at quarter end and the weighted average net pay rate on our interest rate swaps. Both elements of the cost of funds were weighted by the repurchase agreements outstanding at quarter end.
(11) The management fee percentage at quarter end was calculated by annualizing management fees incurred during the quarter and dividing by quarter-ended stockholders’ equity.
(12) The other operating expenses percentage at quarter end was calculated by annualizing other operating expenses recorded during the quarter and dividing by quarter-ended stockholders’ equity.
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Artprice Launches its Online Auctions

PARIS , January 3, 2012 /PRNewswire/ –
As announced in previous press releases, Artprice, with its 1.3 million members in more than 90 countries, and in its capacity as an online auction broker (“opérateur de courtage aux enchères réalisées à distance par voie électronique”, Article 5 of French Law no. 2011-850 of 20 July 2011 ) will be launching its online auctions service on 18 January 2012 .
Since 27 December 2011 , Artprice members have been able to prepare their ads in order to gain the maximum benefit from the visibility of Artprice’s global launch campaign. For further information please visit:  http://web.artprice.com/classifieds/info?l=en
Although more than 90% of the art market was closed between Christmas and the New Year, Artprice has already registered several thousand lots for sale. Our initial client feedback suggests that users find the service very quick and simple to use.
According to thierry Ehrmann, the founder and CEO of Artprice, “the train of History is now definitively rolling and Artprice is on that train, which nothing can stop from now on. It took twelve years and lots of patience and conviction to pursue a legal battle against a 500 year-old monopoly that is today demolished”. Breaking this monopoly is a victory for Artprice; but it is also beneficial to France that has been losing its attractiveness as an art market for over 40 years, slipping from the first to the fourth position, and which, this year, with the help of Artprice, can hope to recover a position worthy of its tradition and its influence on the art market.
On Monday 2 January 2012 , Artprice launched a global campaign in art and financial media, focused on the USA , Europe and Asia , alongside a “viral marketing” campaign on the Internet.
On Monday 9 January 2012 , Artprice will start the presentation of lots to be auctioned in chronological harmony with the art market which, every year, kicks off in the second week of January.
A level of security rarely attained on the Internet.
Our alliance with Escrow.com, the global leader in the management of escrow accounts, provides a 100% guarantee of security and payment for the parties to all transactions. The service provided by Escrow.com has been specifically tailored to meet all of Artprice’s rigorous requirements. Artprice’s capacity to offer 100% transaction security relies on its excellent knowledge of the digital economy and developments in the fields of information technology and Internet law. Indeed, we can affirm with complete confidence that the security of Artprice’s online auctions and other services is greater than that offered by traditional auctions and non-internet transactions.
Artprice works on the fundamental principle of perfectly identified members and, via an agreement with INTERPOL, buyers can access at any moment the latter’s international Stolen Works of Art database to check if a work being offered for sale is subject to any legal dispute or search warrant.
Unlike certain well-known general online auction companies, Artprice imposes a permanent legal presence on its clientele to ensure the smooth operation of its online auction brokerage activities via its Standardised Marketplace. Artprice’s contacts over the past 5 years with approximately 70 criminal investigation departments around the world has allowed Artprice to build an unrivalled level of Internet confidence that is strengthened by its constant collaboration with artists, beneficiaries and experts.
The real strength of Artprice is its use of an escrow and payment release system for which Artprice has conceptualised all possible legal scenarios to ensure that completed transactions are legally irreversible and to provide a level of security rarely attained in the Internet sphere. This escrow system functions on exactly the same principle as that used by solicitors and lawyers for various kinds of transactions.
The very low commissions charged by Artprice completely alter the dynamic of the art market.
Art professionals, collectors and beneficiaries will be inexorably drawn to use Artprice’s service because its low commissions modify the fundamental reality of the secondary art market. Its rates decrease from 9% to 5% depending on the value (in USD) of the transaction: 9% from 0 to 7,500 dollars ; 7% from 7,500.01 to 15,000 dollars and 5% for transactions over 15,000.01 dollars . According to thierry Ehrmann, the 5% rate for works offered at over 15,000.01 euros could attract entire sections of the Art market to this modus operandi because works in that price bracket are perfectly standardised and have been bought and sold for nearly 30 years, almost always “remotely”, in view of the legal documents that vendors are obliged to produce on Artprice.
In parallel, Artprice is setting up white labels for major players in the art market, notably Auction Houses, that will use Artprice and its Standardised Marketplace as their technical host for online auctions, thereby providing Artprice -which is not an auctioneer- with another source of income.
Artprice is therefore open to demand from over 3,600 client and partner auctioneers and more than 7,400 art valuers who have already concretely manifested their vital need to join Artprice’s standardised marketplace in order to maintain their positions in the global art market and survive the necessary transition to a dematerialised art auction environment.
Internet, and more generally the digital revolution, has literally destroyed the global mono-economy of physical auction rooms, which today are just one channel for auctioneers to use and which -usually located in city centres- either represent an expensive (and now superfluous) rental cost or an under-exploited real estate asset.
In the context of a deeper than ever global economic and financial crisis, Artprice has once again -as in 2008- observed a very sharp increase in the number of works offered for sale through its Standardised Marketplace, with an acceleration of buy-to-sell operations. We can therefore assume that auction sales will follow the same growth path. Indeed, we are of the view that the economic and financial crisis represents a strong growth opportunity for Artprice’s Standardised Marketplace.
In fact, the history of the art market – like all markets – is naturally heading towards the circuits that are the fastest, the least expensive, the most liquid, where the price can be obtained in real-time and where there is a critical mass of participants with – of course – access to transparent information on all prices and indices.
Artprice’s Standardised Marketplace meets these five specific and vital needs for a modern market. Artprice, with its completely toll-free access model for its Standardised Marketplace, is absorbing the global market of private art sales faster than initially expected. With our extremely attractive rates we now expect to see the same pace of growth with our online auction service.
Over nearly 7 years Artprice has seen exponential growth of the offer on its Standardised Marketplace (the annual figures are available in Artprice’s 2010 Registration Document and online at the AMF under number D.11-0784 since 25 August 2011 ). In 2010, Artprice confirmed a total volume of artworks offered worth nearly 6.3 billion euros with a sales rate of approximately one third, for which Artprice received no commission.
We should point out that only Artprice holds and protects, as intellectual property, the entire process for joining the Standardised Marketplace® and for side-stepping the traditional system of physical auction rooms. Indeed, the situation may justifiably be compared to the old Stock Exchanges before the arrival of the ECNs (Electronic Communication Network) that made the outcry halls redundant on the majority of the world’s major stock markets, primarily by reducing the intermediation costs.
Art… a veritable safe haven investment in times of major crisis.
The economic and business media (Le Monde, The New York Times , the F.T. the A.F.P., Reuters, Bloomberg, etc.) regularly indicate that quality art represents a genuine safe haven in major crises. Artprice, Christie’s, Sotheby’s and the major international auctioneers also confirm the safe haven status of artworks (c.f. the Agefi’s interview with Artprice). In fact, despite the sombre economic and financial global context in 2011, the global art market posted extremely positive figures both in terms of volumes and prices in all countries, and numerous artists in Artprice’s global Top 500 posted new records.
This confidence is manifest on all continents. Like gold, artworks have for centuries been defensive investments in major crises and particularly in the context of sharp meltdowns in financial asset values such as those that the global economy is likely to continue experiencing in 2012/2013.
Artprice will soon be announcing alliances that will allow a presence on all continents with local partners.
The future of Artprice in 2012 and of the Art Market is unavoidably linked to Asia .
Artprice was the first press agent in the world to announce and certify figures in 2011 showing that China had unquestionably become the world’s leading art marketplace ahead of the USA in 2011.  Artprice’s figures for 2011 have already confirmed China’s domination of the global art market for the second consecutive year.
There is therefore an irresistible logic to Artprice’s patient preparation for the opening of its subsidiary and clean rooms in Hong Kong that will be a testing ground for the People’s Republic of China and an entry point for Asia . Hong Kong is already one of the top five global art marketplaces. Likewise, agreements with major players such as online auction operators and major Asian art fairs will allow Artprice to extend the diffusion initiated in 2011 of its Asia -specific art market reports, country by country. As a simple example, Singapore should soon overtake France in the field of Contemporary Art sales. In this context Artprice and Art Stage Singapore, Asia’s largest Contemporary Art Fair (along with Art HK), have decided to intensify their editorial partnership and their marketing strategy in 2012. Artprice will also be a strategic partner with Art HK ( Hong Kong ).
The Internet’s absolute domination of the art market in 2012.
In 2012 Internet is therefore just a simple extension of the 1980s telephonic order with, in addition, a perfect reproduction of the work for the buyer and Artprice’s remarkable success is proof of this…. there remained therefore a final step and indeed the hardest step: the standardisation of the marketplace that Artprice has achieved in 14 years by imposing its unique and free standard via its Standardised Marketplace ®.
From 1987 to 2004, Artprice’s databanks became the reference in this area and made Artprice the global leader in standardised art market information before it turned to the problem of market dematerialisation. This latter project fully exploits the standardisation represented by its 18 databases, fed by acquisitions around the world of publishers and art archives.
All of the industrial processes forming Artprice’s databanks are patent protected, notably by the A.P.P. (Agence de Protection des Programmes). These industrial processes standardise the Art Market (artist ID, work ID, catalogue raisonné ID, bibliography ID, estimate/econometric info ID.) with more than 180 million data entries and proprietary indices.
This globally unique knowledge is clearly explained in Artprice’s corporate video in five languages: http://web.artprice.com/video/
Artprice posted the best French stock market progression in 2011 and has filed a request for admission to compartment B of Euronext Paris.
Despite the crisis affecting stock market’s, Artprice’s share price outperformed in 2011 with an astonishing increase of +472% since 1 January 2011 , on the back of a traded volume of approximately 873 million euros , i.e. an average daily volume of 3.2 million euros . This increase was the best performance on the regulated French Eurolist by Euronext markets (compartments A, B, C).
As Artprice satisfied all the admission criteria for admission to Compartment B in 2011, it is preparing its admission request for registration on compartment B of Eurolist to be filed with the French Financial Markets Authority (AMF) along with the presentation of its candidacy to the NYSE Euronext Scientific Committee for Indices to be included in the indices relating to Compartment B.
In order to understand the legislative evolution of the art market over five centuries and the impact of recent changes on Artprice, we invite our shareholders and the market to read the 72 short and pedagogical questions and answers that form the basis of the interviews conducted in June and October of 2011. Hyperlinks to Actusnews (a professional regulated information provider licensed by the AMF):
http://www.actusnews.com/communique.php?ID=ACTUS-0-25689
Lastly, Artprice invites its new and future shareholders who would like to acquaint themselves with the history of the Company to consult its highly detailed regulated information in its 2010 Registration Document filed and online at the AMF under D.11-0784 since 25 August 2011 . Artprice, with more than 12 years of regulated disclosure on Eurolist, is proud of the high quality of the information it provides to financial market professionals and art market novices. All the questions of Artprice’s 18,000 shareholders are systematically answered in Artprice’s regulated disclosures that its posts online on its own website and on that of its AMF-authorised financial information provider, ActusNews.com.            
Source: http://www.artprice.com (c)1987-2012 thierry Ehrmann
Artprice is the global leader in databank on Art prices and indices with more than 27 million indices and auction results covering 450,000 Artists. Artprice Images(R) gives unlimited access to the largest Art Market resource in the world, a library of 108 million images or engravings of artworks from 1700 to the present day along with comments by Artprice’s art historians. Artprice permanently enriches its databanks with information from 3,600 auctioneers and publishes a constant flow of art market trends for the main news agencies and 6,300 international written media. For its 1.3 million members (member log in), Artprice posts standardized adverts in what is today the world’s leading Standardised Marketplace® for buying and selling works of Art (source Artprice).
Artprice is listed on Eurolist by Euronext Paris: Euroclear: 7478 – Bloomberg : PRC – Reuters: ARTF
List of Artprice press releases:
http://serveur.serveur.com/press_release/pressreleasefr.htm
Discover alchemy and Artprice’s universe on http://web.artprice.com/video/
Follow all of the art market’s news with Artprice on Twitter: http://twitter.com/artpricedotcom/
Contact: Josette Mey – tel: +33(0)478-220-000, email: ir@artprice.com

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Chinese bankers forming global network

One way to better understand the changes that have taken place in China as a result of its joining the World Trade Organization in 2001 is to take a look at its banking industry over the past decade.
The amount of annual outward investment abroad has been growing at an average rate of almost 50 percent, since 2003, and reached $68.8 billion worth in 2010, putting China in fifth place globally.
Mainland-based companies had $317.2 billion worth of investments in 178 countries and regions by the end of 2010.
And, as more Chinese companies go abroad, so are Chinese banks taking a closer look at international markets, and forming a global network.

Chinese banks had nearly 100 branches around the world by the end of June of this year, and had completely purchased or had shares in 16 financial organizations abroad.
Bank of China (BOC), one of China’s leading banks with the widest international reach, and greatest amount of experience, was recently listed as one of the world’s 29 most important financial organizations.
BOC’s business covered 34 countries and regions by the end of 2010 and it had nearly 1,000 offices overseas, and assets worth 2.3 trillion yuan ($361.3 billion).
In 2009, when a Chinese company acquired the mines of an Australian lead-zinc mining company, at a cost of $1.2 billion, there were hidden risks because of unpaid debts.
But BOC was on hand to provide financial assistance. It dropped its original response to put together a bundle of financing with other banks, and decided to handle the deal by itself.
The service it provided was a “firewall” that contained the risks and provided the security that the company needed.
BOC has said that it believes that Chinese companies grow in the global market is one way to improve its international services.
And, by designing various financial products, it has been able to help Chinese companies deal with international policies and regulations as well as foreign exchange.


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