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(Alliance News) - Ramsdens Holdings PLC on Wednesday said its jewellery retailing division has benefited from rising gold prices, though foreign currency commission has suffered from reduced international travel.
Ramsdens shares climbed 14% to 127.15 pence each in London on Wednesday morning.
The retailer and financial services provider expects a pretax profit of about GBP9 million for the 18 months ended September 30. Back in March, the company changed its year end date to September 30 from March 31 due to Covid-19 disruption.
In the 12-month financial year that ended March 31, 2019, pretax profit came in at GBP6.5 million.
"Store closures and ongoing restrictions to international travel resulted in a significant reduction in revenue during the period. Following the re-opening of the group's stores, foreign currency commission has been approximately 30% of the comparable prior year level," Ramsdens said.
"However, the performance of the group's jewellery retail segment has been encouraging and the purchase of precious metals segment has benefited from the strong gold price."
Looking ahead, Chief Executive Officer Peter Kenyon said its foreign currency arm's performance will hinge on international travel restrictions.
"We are hopeful that when quarantine restrictions are eased or lifted, it will stimulate significant demand for international travel and, therefore, foreign currency," Kenyon added.
By Eric Cunha; ericcunha@alliancenews.com
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