LONDON (ShareCast) - H&T Group has ended the talks it had been holding with the administrators of Albemarle & Bond Holdings (A&B), it said on Monday.

The group announced it was in discussions about a potential acquisition of some of A&B's assets just one week earlier.

A&B last month appointed administrators, who at the time said: "Our priority is to keep all pledged items safe and available for redemption as normal. We plan to sell all or part of the business to protect as many jobs as possible and we have already paid, or will be paying all staff - including accrued bonuses - as normal in March. Also, all landlords have been paid."

It did, however, say that "some redundancies may be necessary", depending on the outcome of efforts to sell the business.

In addition to pawn broking, A&B operates in retail jewellery sales, gold purchasing, unsecured lending and other financial services.

H&T's shares had fallen 4.93% to 171.25p by 12:15 on Monday.

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