Card Factory sees profit soar, but sees tough conditions in Christmas run-up
The business said pre-tax profit rose by 73% in the six months to the end of July.
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Your support makes all the difference.Retailer Card Factory has warned investors it faces a tough run-up to Christmas with the economy facing a potential downturn, but said it was well placed to weather the problems.
The card seller said that it comes to the run-up in a decent position. In the six months to the end of July pre-tax profit soared 73% to £24.7 million, and its Valentine’s, Father’s Day and Mother’s Day ranges outperformed the previous year.
But chief executive Darcy Willson-Rymer warned that the “economic backdrop” is challenging at the moment.
Card Factory is already preparing for the busy Christmas period, and is reorganising the displays in five stores ahead of the holidays.
Our value and quality proposition and the strength of our store estate resonates with customers and positions us well to navigate the challenging economic backdrop in the run-up to the Christmas trading season
“We are well prepared for our key Christmas trading season. Our Christmas programme has now launched and includes our first fully integrated marketing campaign,” the company said.
It said that all the stock it wants for Christmas has been manufactured so that it can be delivered on time, and the company has not yet had any problems with the logistics needed to get products made abroad to its shops.
It is also recruiting staff for the period.
Mr Willson-Rymer said: “Our value and quality proposition and the strength of our store estate resonates with customers and positions us well to navigate the challenging economic backdrop in the run-up to the Christmas trading season.
“Continued leveraging of the insights gathered from our investment in customer data is enabling us to evolve and optimise our store formats and ranges across cards, gifts and celebration essentials, all underpinned by our discipline in maintaining a resilient financial position.”
The business said revenue rose 11.5% in the six months to the end of July to £220.8 million.
Like-for-like sales increased by 10.5% in Card Factory shops, in part thanks to price rises, but online sales dropped 13.1%.
“We are delighted to announce a strong performance in the first six months of this year,” Mr Willson-Rymer said.
The business has performed in line with expectations since its last update in August.
Shares had fallen by 10.2% early on Tuesday afternoon.