The Tamesis
Bonhams’ global sales as of 2025 were $970 million, a headline number that might have been seen as unequivocally good news in another year. Instead, it emerged against a flurry of background information: a widely circulated Financial Times report on a £213m pre-tax loss, a change in ownership and renewed scrutiny of how the auction house responded to the economic downturn amid weak markets.
Still, the results mark one of the strongest sales results in Bonhams’ recent history, driven by growth across regions and categories, underpinned by an expansion strategy. While the strategy echoes initiatives by Sotheby’s and Christie’s, including a focus on private sales, diversifying categories and deeper digital engagement, the focus is different, with Bonhams building on breadth and mid-market depth rather than a trophy-dominated evening auction model.
According to data published by the company, Bonhams attracted buyers from 133 countries in 2025 and maintained operations in 24 markets around the world. Sales spanned more than 65 categories, with particularly strong performance in fine art, luxury goods and collector cars. This year’s top lot, a 2020 Bugatti Divo, sold for $9 million, emblematic of the brand’s increasing reliance on categories other than trophy fine art.
Regionally, the situation is mixed but largely constructive. Bonhams Hong Kong had its strongest year on record, with auction and private sales reaching $104 million, while UK sales rose 4.5% year-on-year to $285 million. In the United States, Bonhams New York held its strongest 20th and 21st Century Art Week to date, totaling $28.2 million in November. Private sales are also playing an increasingly important role, particularly in the UK, where they are up around 50% compared to 2024.
Bonhams has emphasized digital engagement as a metric more aggressively than some of its rivals, and it remains at the heart of the business. By volume, 91% of auction lots sold online, with nearly half of the total value (46%) transacted digitally, demonstrating not only the property’s growing digital presence but also online buyers’ increasing comfort with auction items beyond entry-level price points.
That said, the sales announcement falls on financial timesBonhams reported in January that its pre-tax losses had almost doubled to £213 million in 2024. The figure is shocking at first glance, driven largely by a £153m impairment charge – accounting write-downs that reflect revisions to expectations for future cash flows rather than cash losses or operational collapses.
as art news It was reported at the time that the impairment was calculated based on the equity value of Bonhams’ previous private equity owner Epiris, which sold the home to private credit firm Pemberton Asset Management in October. In other words, the losses reflect a reassessment of valuations amid a broader market downturn rather than a sudden loss of revenue. Revenue at Bonhams fell 9% that year, which, while not painless, was broadly in line with the declines reported by Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Phillips over the same period.
Writing in her new book, “Substack The Appraisal,” Julie Brener Davich focuses on the accounting mechanics behind the overall losses, emphasizing the role of impairment charges rather than operating cash shortfalls — a distinction that complicates a more alarming interpretation. financial timesaccurate reporting (which art market readers should be familiar with). She noted that impairments often reflect more of past expectations than current performance, especially in cyclical markets where valuations set during boom times are now being readjusted.
Bonhams’ leadership sees this moment as a reset under new ownership. In a press release in October 2025, the company announced its sale to Pemberton Asset Management and the formation of a new senior management team, appointing Seth Johnson as CEO, Liese Thomas as CFO, and Jennifer Babington as COO, while emphasizing strategic continuity.
“Despite a challenging market,” Bonhams “performed strongly relative to the wider industry,” the statement said, driven by investment in technology, global business expansion, positioning in the high-end auction sector and a strong foothold in the mid-market. The message of Bonhams is one of improvement rather than reinvention, with Bonhams relying on a structure of more than 60 departments designed to serve a broad and increasingly international community of collectors.
This strategy is perhaps most evident in Bonhams’ upcoming U.S. flagship store at Steinway Hall, which opens next month. The 42,000-square-foot headquarters on West 57th Street consolidates the brand’s New York operations into a single, public-facing cultural space—part sales room, part exhibition space, and part statement of intent. The investment demonstrates confidence in the US market, even as the wider auction industry experiences a period of contraction. It also gives the company a New York headquarters to match the Big Three.
All in all, Bonhams’ 2025 results reveal a company in transformation as it commits to growing selectively and diversifying wisely in a year when the art market leaves little room for error. Whether this is enough by 2026 will depend more on overall performance than consistency – something Bonhams seems intent on quietly rebuilding.
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