Middlesbrough-based Ramsdens, the high street pawnbroker and financial services provider, has announced strong Interim Results up to March 31, with profit before tax up by 68% to £3.7million and revenue up by a third to £39million.

Among the financial highlights today were:

  • Jewellery retail revenue increased by 32% to £17.3m
  • Online jewellery retail sales increased by 89% year on year to £3.7m
  • Foreign currency gross profit increased by 41% to £4.9m (HY22: £3.4m)

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Reflecting the Group’s positive momentum and its confidence planning ahead, the board approved a 22% increase in the interim dividend to 3.3 pence per share, on the back of operational highlights including six new store openings, bringing the total number up to 158 sites.

The company said it planned to open six new stores in the second half of 2023 and launch a dedicated website for currency services.

Peter Kenyon, Chief Executive, said: "We are pleased to report an excellent performance in the first half of the year which was achieved by strong trading across all our key income streams. This momentum puts us on course to deliver record profits for the Group in the current financial year.

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"We are successfully executing against our long-held strategic priorities. We are focused on driving organic growth by delivering ongoing continuous improvements to our operations, expanding the store estate and investing in our online offering.

"In addition, we are continuing to seek and appraise attractive consolidation opportunities in what remains a highly fragmented market.

"With our diversified income streams, strong brand and growing customer base, we are highly confident in the Group’s growth prospects for the coming years, thereby enabling us to create significant value for all stakeholders.”