Card Factory enjoys good Christmas trading
The Wakefield-based firm said like-for-like store sales returned to growth in final quarter of the financial year.
The group reported year-to-date like-for-like store sales growth of 0.4 per cent in the 11 months to December 31, down from growth of 2.8 per cent the previous year.
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Hide AdWith the opening of 51 new stores, year-to-date sales rose 4.3 per cent over the 11 month period.
The group said it is confident of delivering a full year, underlying, pre-tax profit that is slightly ahead of analysts' consensus.
Talking about fourth quarter sales, analyst Jonathan Pritchard at Peel Hunt said: "The fact that this better sales showing is accompanied by an upgrade to forecasts is highly reassuring.
"It remains clear to us that the greetings card industry is extremely stable and Card Factory has an enviable position within it. The competition will, undoubtedly in our minds, continue to close stores and this will only aid the like-for-like momentum further."
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Hide AdKaren Hubbard, Card Factory’s CEO, said: “As I approach my first anniversary with the business, it is pleasing to report that Card Factory has traded well through the competitive Christmas trading period with customers once again responding well to our card and non-card ranges.
"As a result, like-for-like store sales in the fourth quarter of the financial year have returned to our expected range.
"Whilst all retailers will clearly face cost pressures in 2017, the proven strength of our retail proposition, underpinned as ever by our unique vertically integrated model, provides our business with significant competitive advantage. We believe that this will enable us to further increase our market share as we have done every year since the business was formed in 1997.”
The group also announced the departure of finance director Darren Bryant.