Card Factory to open two new stores in Yorkshire as part of growth strategy

Card Factory has more than 1,070 stores across the UK and Ireland and it is opening two stores in Yorkshire over the next half year; in Harrogate and Middleton, Leeds. The business has around 100 stores in Yorkshire.

Darcy Willson-Rymer, the group’s chief executive, told The Yorkshire Post that 90 per cent of greeting cards are bought in a store. He believes the majority of cards will continue to be bought in a shop in the foreseeable future.

The group has signed a multi-year agreement with Aldi to be the exclusive greeting card supplier across the supermarket chain’s full UK and Republic of Ireland estate. Entry into the US market has also been secured through a nationwide wholesale retail partnership which will roll out in time for Christmas.

Commenting on the results, Mr Willson-Rymer, said: "I am delighted to be reporting further progress against our growth strategy with this resilient underlying performance in the first half of the year.

"We continue to deliver against our strategic priorities at pace thanks to the commitment and dedication of our colleagues. During the period, we continued to see strong performance across our growing store estate, with gifts and celebration essentials now a core driver of revenue growth, building on our strength in greetings cards.”

He added: “As we move into the second half of the year and the important Christmas trading period, our expectations for the full year are unchanged and we continue to focus on managing inflationary pressures within the business.

"Our strategic growth ambitions are underpinned by a robust balance sheet and strong cash flow, alongside our disciplined approach to managing working capital and focus on driving efficiencies and productivity across the business. Moving forward, we believe we are well placed.”

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: “When you sell a keenly priced product, your profitability is sensitive to any increase in costs and that’s been borne out by the latest results from greetings card retailer Card Factory.

“While the company saw a decent increase in group sales, particularly given poor weather and continuing uncertainty in the economic backdrop, increases in freight costs and the national living wage have seen that translate into an alarming drop in first-half profit.”

But he said the half-year hit to profits “will likely be viewed as a blip, rather than anything more serious”.