20th Aug 2024 10:21
(Alliance News) - H&T Group PLC on Tuesday said it is increasing its dividend, profits having increased in its latest half year.
The Surrey-based pawnbrokers' chain and jewellery retailer reported pretax profit of GBP9.9 million for the first six months of 2024, up 13% from GBP8.8 million the previous year.
H&T said income from operations totalled GBP55.8 million, up 11% from GBP50.1 million. Diluted earnings per share rose 8.6% to 17.7 pence from 16.3p, and the net asset value per share rose to 416p from 386p.
Retail sales jumped 27% to GBP29.3 million from GBP23.0 million. Gross pawnbroking revenue rose 11% to GBP47.7 million from GBP43.0 million.
H&T also declared a 7.0p per share dividend, up 7.7% from 6.5p per share the prior year.
As well as benefitting from increased demand for foreign currency and higher gold prices, H&T said said more people were looking for alternative ways to source a small loan amid a lack of short-term credit options.
The average gold price per troy ounce rose to GBP1,742 from GBP1,566 the year before.
Chief Executive Officer Chris Gillespie said he was "pleased" by the "positive progress", commenting: "Our core pawnbroking business continues to attract increasing numbers of new and returning customers...Retail sales have also been encouraging, with margins on all product categories improving in the second quarter and expected to further improve through the remainder of 2024."
He added: "We remain focused on growing and broadening our core pawnbroking business and investing in the store estate."
Going forward, H&T said: "With continued investment in scale and capabilities, along with growing our business in the context of wider macro-economic factors, we believe that the group has an opportunity for significant growth in the medium term. This applies across our product offering, particularly the core pawnbroking product.
"Our focus is to ensure that the group is well positioned to take advantage of these growth opportunities."
Despite the results, however, H&T shares were trading 5.3% lower at 396.00p on Tuesday morning in London.
By Emma Curzon, Alliance News reporter
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