H&T Group secures £10m funding facility

(Sharecast News) - Pawnbroker and jewellery and watch retailer H&T Group has secured additional funding to facilitate its business growth, it announced on Friday. The AIM-traded firm said Allica Bank had extended a funding facility of £10m to support the expansion of its pledge book and investments in its store portfolio.

It said the facility included a term loan with a maturity period aligning with its existing funding facilities with Lloyds Bank.

Additionally, it granted the option to extend the maturity in line with the existing arrangements.

The interest rate for the funding would be 4% above the base rate.

H&T said the terms and covenants of the arrangement closely resembled those of H&T Group's current facilities with Lloyds Bank.

A new covenant was introduced, mandating an asset cover equivalent to no less than three times the net debt, combining the pledge book and inventory.

"We are very pleased to have the support of Allica Bank as an additional funding partner," said chief financial officer Diane Giddy.

"We have continued to see good growth in the pledge book in the second half of the financial year, with sustained demand for our products and services, and the investment we are making in our store estate is expected to underpin future growth.

"The new facility, alongside our existing long-standing support from Lloyds, will enable us to grow our pledge book further in the 2024 financial year."

At 1213 GMT, shares in H&T Group were down 0.38% at 458.26p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.