North East pawnbroker group Ramsdens has toasted rising sales and profits against a backdrop of uncertainty and challenging Covid-19 conditions.
The Middlesbrough financial services firm, which is also a shirt sponsor for Middlesbrough FC, has published unaudited preliminary results for the 18 months ended September 30 showing pre-tax profit of 拢9.2m on revenue of 拢76.9m.
The firm also published its 12-month figures 鈥 financials it previously unveiled in May 鈥 showing strong growth in the 12-month period to March 2020 with revenue rising 27% and pre-tax profit jumping 30%.
During the period, the firm had one net store opening after merging eight stores with nearby Ramsdens sites, resulting in 153 owned stores as of September 30 and four stores relocated.
The company said that, before the impact of Covid-19, during the year to March 2020, a record 784,000 customers used the group鈥檚 foreign currency service.
The majority of its stores were closed from April to June but by the end of July 152 stores had re-opened and by August the majority of staff across the group鈥檚 store estate had returned to work. Chief
Foreign currency commission through to the end of the reporting period was around 30% compared to last year, impacted by ongoing restrictions on international travel as a result of the pandemic. However, the performance of the group鈥檚 jewellery retail business has been boosted by online sales.
The firm told shareholders it plans to keep a hold of its cash resources to make sure it can maximise opportunities when 鈥渢he new normal returns鈥, meaning it is not recommending a final dividend for the period.
Chief executive Peter Kenyon said: 鈥淭he 18-month period covered by this statement can be broken down into two distinct sections.
鈥淔irstly, Ramsdens delivered its strongest ever 12-month performance prior to the impact of Covid-19 when the business achieved further growth and made strategic progress across each of its income streams.
鈥淭he subsequent impact of Covid-19 and the enforced closures of stores and restrictions on international travel demonstrated the resilience of our diversified business model. Despite the significant headwinds experienced since March as a result of the pandemic, we have continued to trade profitably and maintain a strong cash position.
鈥淭he credit for the group鈥檚 performance and continued progress despite these truly unprecedented conditions must go to our committed team and loyal customers. I would like to thank everyone in the Ramsdens community for their fantastic support during this period.
鈥淎s we move into 2021, a lot of uncertainties remain. However, there are promising signs in the form of a vaccine and 鈥 whatever the outcome is 鈥 we will have greater clarity regarding what Brexit means for consumers and businesses.
鈥淲hilst the pandemic has had an unimaginable impact on communities and companies across the 海角视频, we remain very confident that underpinned by our great value customer proposition, strong balance sheet and diversified model, we remain well positioned to continue our growth trajectory as normality resumes.鈥
