H&T Group PLC sees changing of the guard as new CEO takes over

What H&T does

Its pawnbroking business buys and sells used jewellery, watches, gold, handbags and art.  

The group also provides in-store personal loans of up to £5,000 and sells foreign currency to holidaymakers.

In 2020 it implemented an online pawnbroking payment portal to settle loans remotely.

How it’s doing

The AIM-listed firm announced an interim dividend of 2.5p per share despite the challenges and impacts of the coronavirus.

In its latest update in November, H&T added that Retail sales had been strong, with good demand for high-quality jewellery and watches while the price of gold had boosted profits both in pawnbroking and gold purchasing.

These strong performances had more than offset weakness in foreign currency due to less travel, H&T added.

 Net cash at the time of the update was approximately £30mln with net assets of £134mln. 

John Nichols, which was chief executive then, said: “The group has a strong balance sheet, no debt and a good cash position. This will enable us to build back our pawnbroking book, a resilient secured asset in times of economic uncertainty, and deliver our long-term growth plans which remain intact.”

“Our results reflect the impact of Covid-19 on our business and the closure of our stores from 24 March, all of which have since reopened. While our revenues and profits reduced in this unprecedented environment, our focus on costs and cash generation leaves us presently well-positioned.”

Nichols has since retired and has been replaced by Chris Gillespie, who was previously managing director of the Consumer Credit Division of  PLC.

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Inflexion points

• Investment in digital presence as more customers shift to online
• Strong gold price is adding to good performance
• Rated an essential service during current lockdown