LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Pawnbroker and jewellery retailer H&T Group reported a strong trading performance in the first four months of the year on Wednesday.
The AIM-traded firm, which was holding its annual general meeting, said in its update that demand for pledge lending remained strong, with January and March being record months for lending.

It said its pawnbroking pledge book grew to £106.5m by the end of April, up from £100.7m at the end of December.

The company also reported that demand for pre-owned jewellery and watches continued strongly, with retail sales up 13% year-on-year.

In January, the firm delivered a record month of online sales, with more than £1m of sales in a single month for the first time.

Foreign currency revenues were 10% firmer year-on-year, as the company planned to launch an online click-and-collect ordering process in mid-May, which the board said it believed would be market-leading.

Gold purchase volumes were meanwhile in line with forecasts, as the firm's store estate currently stood at 274 locations, with seven new stores added in the year-to-date, including two stores acquired in West Yorkshire.

Simon Walker, who joined the board as a non-executive director in September, became chair of the group on 1 April.

A recruitment process to further broaden the range of skills and experience of the board was underway, the directors added.

The company confirmed that it expected trading and performance to continue in line with market expectations.

"I am pleased to be reporting on another period of continued momentum during the first four months of the financial year," said chief executive officer Chris Gillespie.

"Demand for our core pawnbroking loans has remained strong following record months in January and March.

"Our growing jewellery and watch business continues to perform very well."

Gillespie said the company's focus was on continuing to expand the geographic coverage of its store network, adding that it was investing both in new store openings and in refreshing existing stores.

"The impact of inflationary pressures continues to be felt across the economy, for both businesses and consumers.

"We remain cognisant of the challenges this presents and are working hard to manage the inflationary impact upon our cost base, as we have been doing for the past 18 months."

With continued investment in scale and capabilities, along with broadening the business in the context of wider macroeconomic factors, Chris Gillespie said the board believed that the company had an opportunity for significant growth in the medium term across all of its product offerings.

"Our focus is to invest in our team, optimise our estate and build-out our services to ensure that the group is well positioned to take advantage of these growth opportunities."

At 1231 BST, shares in H&T Group were down 3.72% at 440p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.

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