Ramsdens interim results 2026: record first half and another profit upgrade
Ramsdens has delivered a seriously strong first half. Revenue jumped 62% to £83.7 million, gross profit rose 48% to £40.1 million, and profit before tax – that is profit before the tax bill – surged 173% to £16.7 million.
The standout line is simple: first-half profit before tax has already beaten the whole of FY25, when Ramsdens made £16.2 million. That is not a small beat either. It tells you trading has moved up a gear.
The Board has also upgraded full-year guidance again. It now expects FY26 profit before tax to land between £30 million and £33 million, ahead of the previous market consensus of £28.6 million.
Key numbers from the Ramsdens H1 FY26 results
| Metric | H1 FY26 | H1 FY25 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | £83.7 million | £51.6 million | +62% |
| Gross profit | £40.1 million | £27.1 million | +48% |
| Profit before tax | £16.7 million | £6.1 million | +173% |
| Basic EPS | 37.9p | 13.9p | +173% |
| Net assets | £70.2 million | £54.7 million | +28% |
| Total interim dividend | 9.0p | 5.0p | +80% |
For income investors, that dividend line matters. Ramsdens has lifted the ordinary interim dividend by 33% to 6.0p per share and added a 3.0p special dividend, taking the total interim payout to 9.0p.
Why Ramsdens profit jumped: gold buying did the heavy lifting
The big engine here was precious metals. Ramsdens said gross profit from purchase of precious metals rose 130% to £17.5 million, with revenue up 141% to £44.4 million.
That was driven by two things working together: a much higher gold price and higher volumes. The average 9ct gold price in the period was £40.63, up from £26.22 a year earlier, and the company said the weight of gold purchased also increased by around 50% year on year.
In plain English, more customers came in to sell unwanted gold, and each gram was worth more. That is a lovely setup for a business like Ramsdens.
Management also deserves some credit here. The company points to better in-store conversations, extra digital advertising and a TV campaign. So this was not just a free ride on the gold price.
Jewellery retail and pawnbroking show this is not just a one-trick gold story
The encouraging bit for longer-term investors is that the rest of the business also improved. This matters because gold prices can swing around, and a business that relies on one booming market can look great right up until it does not.
Jewellery retail kept scaling nicely
Jewellery revenue increased 26% to £26.1 million and gross profit rose 31% to £10.4 million. Margin improved from 38% to 40%, helped partly by stock bought when gold prices were lower.
Pre-owned jewellery was especially strong, with revenue up 43% year on year. Online sales also grew 35% to £5.0 million, showing the digital investment is starting to pay off.
Pawnbroking stayed healthy and disciplined
Pawnbroking gross profit rose 18% to £7.3 million, while the loan book grew 30% to £13.8 million at the period end. By 31 May 2026, that had already risen again to £14.5 million.
That is a good sign because pawnbroking tends to be a steadier, recurring earner. Ramsdens says around 90% of pawnbroking customers have used it before, and repayment rates stayed high at almost 90%.
Just as importantly, management says lending remains conservative. Loan-to-value ratios are around 55% of the intrinsic gold value and less than 40% of the pre-owned retail value. That reduces the risk of nasty losses if customers do not repay.
Foreign currency was the weak spot in the Ramsdens results
Not everything was flying. Foreign currency gross profit fell 9% to £4.6 million even though total currency exchanged was broadly flat at £145.4 million.
The reason is mix. More customers are using digital services like click and collect and the Ramsdens Mastercard multi-currency card, which are lower margin than traditional cash transactions. Around 50,000 cards are now in issue, up from 25,000 a year ago.
That is a short-term negative for margins, but not necessarily a bad strategic move. If more travellers shift from cash to cards, Ramsdens needs to be there rather than fight the tide.
There is also a more obvious risk hanging over this division. The company flagged recent reports of fuel shortages affecting flights, which could hit summer travel and therefore demand for foreign currency. That risk is real, even if the extent is not disclosed.
Balance sheet, cash and store rollout: strong, but working capital is rising
Net assets rose to £70.2 million, up from £62.9 million at the FY25 year end. Ramsdens still describes itself as having net cash, but the net cash position reduced to £2.8 million from £7.4 million.
That drop was mainly due to investment, not distress. The group put £2.5 million into growing the pawnbroking loan book and £10.2 million into inventory, while also paying dividends and spending £1.1 million on capital expenditure.
I would not call that alarming, but it is worth watching. When stock levels and working capital rise quickly, execution matters. So far, the returns look strong enough to justify it.
On expansion, Ramsdens ended the period with 172 stores after two openings and one acquisition. It then opened stores in Abergavenny and Ashford after the period end, with more in shop fit or legal process.
Ramsdens dividend increase and upgraded FY26 guidance matter for shareholders
The profit upgrade is the headline grabber, but the dividend decision says just as much about confidence. Boards do not usually raise payouts this aggressively unless they believe trading is strong and cash generation is holding up.
Ramsdens now expects FY26 profit before tax of £30 million to £33 million. Even the bottom end is comfortably ahead of the old consensus number of £28.6 million.
That suggests analysts will need to lift forecasts again. And when forecasts move up, share prices often follow, assuming investors believe the upgrade is sustainable.
My view on the Ramsdens H1 results: very positive, with one obvious caveat
This is a very strong update. Not just because gold is booming, but because jewellery and pawnbroking also delivered solid growth, while the business kept investing in stores, stock and digital channels.
The caveat is also obvious. Gold has been a huge profit booster, and management itself warns about gold price volatility. If gold cools off, precious metals profits will cool too.
That said, Ramsdens is not pretending otherwise. The company is being fairly open that the current environment has given it an extra tailwind, while also arguing that the wider business remains capable of growth without it.
On the evidence in this RNS, that looks fair. The mix of high gold profits, growing jewellery sales, a larger pawnbroking book and a confident dividend increase makes this a distinctly upbeat set of interim results.
One final note for investors: these interim numbers are unaudited and not reviewed. That is normal enough for AIM interims, but it is still worth remembering.
Overall, this reads like a company in control, benefiting from favourable market conditions but not relying on luck alone. For Ramsdens shareholders, that is exactly what you want to see.
