Card Factory continues to see improved trading performance

Card Factory said its trading for the full year was ahead of the board's expectations with performance recovering from April 2021, as Covid-related restrictions eased

Restrictions had resulted in the full closure of the store estate for approximately 20% of the available trading days in the period, compared to approximately 40% in FY21.

The statement said: "Trading recovered particularly strongly through December, with LFL store sales in the run up to Christmas returning to similar levels to those delivered in December 2019."

Total sales of £337.3m were ahead of the board's expectations, yet below the £424.5m for the pre-Covid eleven months to 31 December 2019, primarily due to the trading restrictions.

Commenting on outlook, the statement said: "Assuming that there are no additional restrictions implemented before the end of the financial year, the board expects the outcome for the full year to be ahead of its previous expectations. Revenue for the full year is expected to be in excess of £360.0m, EBITDA for the full year is expected to be in the range of £71.0m - £74.0m] and profit before tax ("PBT") for the full year is expected to be in the range of £7.0m - £10.0m.

"The board remains confident in the growth potential for the group and the achievability of the long-term guidance set out in September 2021 at the interim results, with revenues in excess of £600m for FY26.

Darcy Willson-Rymer, CEO, commented: "We continue to see improved trading performance across all channels, with transaction volumes in our stores outperforming high street footfall recovery, demonstrating the loyalty of our customers and strength of the brand. The customer response to our Christmas ranges was particularly strong, across both card and complementary product ranges.

" Our vertically integrated model has put the group in a strong position to partially mitigate the supply chain challenges and inflationary pressures that have been seen across the wider market to date. Whilst we expect to be able to offset inflationary pressures to an extent through price increases across our ranges, we do anticipate some margin pressure during the next financial year, as the forecasted inflationary headwinds continue.

"I remain hugely excited by the opportunities available to Card Factory as we focus on the implementation of our strategy and the transformation of the business to a full omni-channel retailer ".