Update on trading and financial position

30 September 2013

Albemarle & Bond Holdings PLC (the "Company")

Update on trading and financial position

Albemarle & Bond Holdings PLC ("Albemarle & Bond" or the "Company"), one of the UK's leading pawnbroking, financial services and jewellery businesses, today announces an update to trading and its financing. The Company also announces separately today the appointment of Chris Gillespie as Chief Executive Officer.

The performance of two of Albemarle & Bond's largest core businesses of pawnbroking and gold buying is directly linked to the gold price, which has weakened since the Company's last trading update issued in April 2013. Whilst the Company's profitability before exceptional items is within the range of market estimates for its financial year just ended (to 30 June 2013), the ongoing weakness in the gold price creates significant uncertainty over the Company's prospects for the current financial year to 30 June 2014 and for the Company's profitability. In response to these market pressures the Company has taken action to improve margin and is realigning its cost base including the recent closure of 33 pop-up gold buying stores which were no longer profitable. The Company has been in active discussion with its lending banks with respect to the covenants applying to the Company's banking facilities, which amount to £65 million. Whilst the Company's current level of net debt is well within these facilities at circa £51 million, the earnings based covenants are at high risk of being breached at the testing dates due in the current financial year. The Company and its lending banks have agreed the terms of a deferral of the 30 September 2013 covenant test date to 30 October 2013.

The Company has also been in active discussion with its largest shareholder, EZCORP International, Inc., with respect to underwriting an equity raise of approximately £35 million, to be structured as a rights issue at 50 pence per share open to all shareholders. Such an equity issue, if it were to proceed, would recapitalise the balance sheet and resolve potential covenant breaches in the current financial year. Accordingly the Company has been preparing to conduct a rights issue and attempting to negotiate a revised banking package and underwriting terms acceptable to both EZCORP and the lending banks.

The Company is in the final stages of seeking to conclude the agreements necessary to enable the announcement of such a rights issue, alongside the Company's final results. However, there can be no certainty that such agreements will be concluded, nor that the rights issue will proceed.

The Company will aim to provide a further update on these developments as soon as possible within the next 48 hours.

Enquiries:

Canaccord Genuity 020 7523 8350

Piers Coombs / Bruce Garrow / Lucy Tilley 

MHP Communications 020 3128 8100

Reg Hoare / Katie Hunt / Simon Hockridge