Pawnbroker H&T cashes in on surge in gold prices
PAWNBROKER H&T cheered the market yesterday after revealing its rapid roll out of gold buying stores boosted trading “well ahead of expectations”.
Investors responded favourably – sending its shares up five per cent to close at 300p.
Since April the group has aggressively developed its gold-buying business, called Gold Bar stores, and has opened 56 stand-alone shops to buy unwanted gold from customers. It is set to grow this to 70 Gold Bars by the end of the year. Gold prices have jumped from $900 to a high of $1,064 an ounce since June.
Chief executive John Nicholls yesterday said that low-income households remain its core customer base, but volumes have soared in the downturn as consumers scramble to get their hands on cash.
But the group uttered a note of caution and said it was “conscious that current volumes may not be sustainable”.
Since the beginning of the crunch a number of “cash for gold” players have entered the market – but Nicholls said the group’s success was based on its reputation.
He told City PM: “The world and his wife are trying to get on the gold bandwagon. But would you send your gold in the post when we don’t even have a good postal service?”