The largest pawnbroker in the United Kingdom has claimed a rise in revenues as a result of its customers’ desire to secure small loans against watches and jewelry in a short period of time, which is one indication of the ongoing strain that the crisis at the expense of living is producing. This is a sign of the ongoing pressure that the crisis is creating.
The pre-tax profits of H&T, which has 280 outlets in the United Kingdom, climbed by 12.5% to £9.9 million in the first six months of 2024 as compared to the same period of the previous year. H&T provided this information.
“Broader macroeconomic conditions” and the overall absence of regulated companies that offer small, short-term loans were factors that led to the expansion of the company’s lending business, which climbed by 14% to a total of £146 million year on year. The company mentioned that these characteristics were factors that contributed to the growth of its lending business.
The crisis in the cost of living, which became more severe in 2022 as a consequence of high inflation that drove up the price of consumer staples, has put pressure on household finances, which has led to an increase in the number of people in the United Kingdom becoming dependent on pawnbrokers in order to make ends meet. Pawnbrokers are a major source of income for many people in the United Kingdom.
It is a frequent habit to consider H&T and its competitors to be a proxy for the state of the personal finances of customers who are experiencing difficulties. “The current market conditions create a growth opportunity for pawnbroking and, as the market leader, for H&T in particular,” the company claimed in their announcement. “H&T should take advantage of this opportunity.”
Customers who agree to take out a loan from H&T are subject to an annual interest rate totalling 165.5% of the principal amount borrowed. It is possible that the item that was pawned will be sold in order to fulfil the obligation in the event that the loan is not repaid.
It was revealed by the company that loans were being repaid at a pace of 94 days during the first half of this year. This represents a substantial improvement over the 97 days that were required during the same period of time in the previous year. According to the report, the value of loans with watches as collateral has decreased as a result of certain high-end brands experiencing “price volatility.”
H&T’s chief executive officer, Chris Gillespie, made the following statement: “Our core pawnbroking business continues to attract increasing numbers of new and returning customers, for whom alternative sources of small-sum, regulated lending are much more constrained.”
As investors hurried to purchase the precious metal in expectation of a cut in interest rates from the Federal Reserve in the United States, gold prices reached a new all-time high on Tuesday. This was the first time that gold prices had ever reached such a level. According to the financial publication H&T, “gold purchases are benefiting from the current upward trend in gold prices, with volumes remaining relatively unchanged.”
It was in the year 1897 that Walter Harvey and Charles James Thompson created H&T Corporation in the city of London. In the years leading up to their deaths, which occurred a few weeks apart in 1915, they had grown the business into a chain that included around 19 different businesses.