Fourth Quarter Dampens Strong Year for Sotheby's

Sotheby's New York headquarters.

Sotheby's said Wednesday that fourth quarter net income declined 25.7 percent, year-over-year, to $71.5 million, largely due to an 11 percent decline in auction and related revenue to $274.9 million. Auction sales fell 5 percent to $85.2 million during the period, ended Dec. 31, 2011, primarily due to a 5 percent decline in net auction sales over the period