Park rides wave of success as Christmas orders rise

Park Group, which sells vouchers, hampers and other gift products on a 45-week prepaid instalment plan in time for Christmas, said orders were up 5 per cent this year, while customer numbers were more than 1 per cent higher at 415,000 and average order value was up 4 per cent at £417.

The Birkenhead, Merseyside-based company said the Christmas savings scheme, which makes up 55 per cent of its revenues, was popular with consumers wary of spending in the current economic climate and offered a “controlled, disciplined” approach to the season.

But the group, which sells its products through 114,000 agents, reported a pre-tax loss of £5.2m in the six months to September 30, compared to a £4.5m loss last year, as 80 per cent of orders are actually dispatched in the second half of the year.

Ben Thefaut, an analyst at Arden Partners, said sales of Park’s Christmas saving product was boosted by its festive advert, in which eighties pop star Ms Nolan claims she is “on a mission to get the nation saving”.

Despite the upbeat outlook for the second half of the year, investors were not impressed by the results for the first six months of the year as Park shares fell more than 7 per cent at one stage.

Park reported a 10 per cent fall in revenues in the period to £48.6m but still awarded a dividend of 0.525p to shareholders, a 5 per cent increase on the previous period.

Chairman Peter Johnson said the outlook for the business was encouraging and that a year of growth was expected as the consumer business, which provides the Christmas savings scheme, saw revenues increase 15 per cent in the first half of the year to £6.7m.

He said: “The attraction of Park’s long-standing Christmas savings operation is well understood and appreciated by its thousands of regular users.”

The corporate business, which supplies own brand vouchers, prepaid cards and individual store vouchers to companies who use the gifts as incentives for staff, saw revenues in the first half of £39.4m, down from £45.1m last year.

The fall in revenues was driven by a reduced number of orders from one of Park’s largest customers but it said this was followed by higher-than-expected orders for delivery in the second half of the year.

Despite the weak first half figures, Mr Thefaut said he expects “superior” growth for the foreseeable future.

He said: “Park is poised to deliver earnings growth around 20 per cent and with a well-established model that is aligned to demand for value in an austerity climate, we anticipate sustained outperformance.”