Prior to last week's results release, and on the back of a pre-close trading update in April, house broker Liberum Capital had previously upgraded its pre-tax profit and EPS estimates by 13 per cent. In the event, Ramsdens managed to beat those upgraded profit numbers by a few percentage points, posting a 73 per cent rise in pre-tax profit to £4m on revenues up 15 per cent to £34.5m, delivering adjusted EPS of 10.1p, excluding the costs of the IPO.
Profits have been on an upward trajectory for some time, as Ramsden has increased its annual cash profits by more than two-thirds to £6m since chief executive Peter Kenyon led a management buyout of the company in the autumn of 2014, backed by private equity firm NorthEdge Capital. Headquartered in Middlesbrough, and with an estate of 127 stores mainly located in Scotland, the north-east of England, and Wales, the board has been accelerating the diversification of the business mix to increase the focus on its foreign exchange and jewellery retail segments, while at the same time acquiring pawnbroking books from rivals to bulk up that side of the business.