High street pawnbroker Ramsdens expects half year profits to be ahead of last year thanks in part to record pawnbroking levels.
In a pre-close trading statement, the Middlesbrough-based plc told investors it is eyeing pre-tax profits of at least £9.5m in the six months to the end of March, up from £8.3m in 2022. Trading was said to be strong across Ramsdens' jewellery, foreign exchange and pawnbroking divisions and the firm is looking at new sites, including through acquisitions.
Ramsdens said jewellery gross profit had increased 20% year-on-year while foreign currency volumes had recovered to about 70% of pre-pandemic levels. And the firm's pawnbroking loan book has increased 13% to £9.7m - a record level.
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Peter Kenyon, CEO of Ramsdens, said: "We are pleased to report an excellent performance in the first half of the year, resulting in an outcome ahead of the Board’s expectations. This was achieved by strong trading across all of our key income streams.
"The investments made over recent years in our jewellery retail operations continue to deliver encouraging returns, including notably a record revenue performance for the key Christmas period. We continue to see strong customer demand for premium watch brands and our extensive range of gold chain and bracelet products.
"Our trusted pawnbroking service is providing more and more consumers with a flexible solution for small sum, short term loans. We have seen increased demand from both existing and new customers across the store estate resulting in record loan book levels for Ramsdens. Our loan book remains high-quality with consistently high repayment levels, and we are pleased to be able to support more and more customers manage in the face of increased living costs.
"Our foreign currency volumes were consistent across the winter season with an increase in activity seen in the lead up to Easter giving us encouragement ahead of the key summer trading period. We continue to invest in this important business segment for Ramsdens and expect to launch a new foreign currency focused website and multi-currency card in the second half of the financial year. Our gold buying service has also seen greater demand especially with the higher gold price seen in 2023."
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