H&t Group Plc Share News (HAT)

(ShareCast News) - H&T Group posted a trading update for the financial year to 31 December on Tuesday, ahead of its preliminary results, which it expects to publish on 13 March.The board of the AIM-traded company said it anticipates full year profit before tax to be marginally ahead of current market expectations.During the year, it made significant progress in the development of its business model with strong growth in Personal Loans, Buyback and FX, the board claimed.It said the increase in the sterling gold price since the EU referendum result also increased profits from both the Pawnbroking Scrap and Gold Purchasing segments."The Group delivered a strong operational performance in its lending activities," the board said in a statement.Its pledge book did increase 5.9% to £41.3m, from £39.0m a year earlier, driven by the company's new format for pawnbroking services focused on higher value loans at lower interest rates.The Personal Loans book increased 123.8% to £9.4m, from £4.2m, though while the majority of that growth was generated by the H&T store estate, online and broker channels also performed well."During the year the Group closed eight underperforming stores," the board added."At 31 December 2016, the group operated from 181 stores, comprising 146 H&T Pawnbrokers stores and 35 'est1897' retail focused stores."