Economic misery is pawnbroker’s gain

NOT all businesses are suffering as a result of the economic crisis as results published by one of the UK’s largest pawnbrokers demonstrates.

Albermarle & Bond (ABM), which has 111 branches across the country including outlets in Wakefield, Doncaster and Huddersfield, reported a 47% increase in pre-tax profit from £7m to £10.3m for the 12 months ended June 30.

Revenue jumped from £32.9m to £46.9m – a rise of 43% for the period. ABM said that its pawn loan book has increased by 57% from £15.8m to £24.8m.

It confirmed a 24% increase in total divident for the year to 6.50p compared to 5.25p for the year before.

The group said that market conditions had influenced its strong performance helped by the reduction in lending of mainstream banks and higher gold prices.

ABM acquired Leeds-based family owned pawnbroker Herbert Brown in July 2007 for £30.7m

The deal made ABM the country’s largest pawnbroker.

The acquisition has contributed a total of £11.9m to the group’s revenues and £9.8m to gross profit.

It said that it is looking to make further acquisitions after negotiating additional lending facilities of £6m.

Charles Nicolson, ABM’s chairman said: “Demand for rapid access to small flexible loans with no upfront fees from Albermarle’s national chain of pawnbrokers is increasing and this trend is reflected in the positive trading performance by the company.

“Looking forward, we have made a positive start to the new financial year and have in place a clear strategy to continue to develop the business, the key elements of which are continued focus on organic growth across the store portfolio, further integration of Herbert Brown business with particular emphasis on growing its financial services offering, and pursuing opportunities to exploit new markets through new branch openings.”

ABM employs more than 600 people and was originally founded in Bristol.