An upswing in the gold price and growth in personal loans means pawnbroker H&T GROUP PLC (LON:HAT) expects to report pre-tax profit for 2016 which will be marginally ahead of current market expectations.
The business, over 100 years old, continues to advance and the pledge book increased 5.9% to £41.3mln compared to £39mln at the end of 2015, driven by new pawnbroking services focused on higher value loans at lower interest rates.
Meanwhile, the personal loans book increased 123.8% to £9.4mln (31 December 2015: £4.2mln).
The majority of growth was generated by the group's store estate, but the firm said its online and broker channels also performed well.
"During the year the group has made significant progress in the development of its business model with strong growth in personal loans, buyback and FX," it added.
"The increase in the sterling gold price since the EU referendum result has also increased profits from both the pawnbroking scrap and gold purchasing segments."
In 2016, the firm closed eight underperforming stores.
The group now operates from 181 stores, comprising 146 H&T pawnbrokers stores and 35 est1897 retail focused stores. Its prelims will be reported on March 13.