Kitbag owner firm Findel maintains steady profits despite revenue decline

Multi-channel retailer Findel plc saw its profits remain steady in the half-year to September 25, ahead of disposing of its loss-making Kitbag division.

The Cheshire-headquartered firm’s pre-tax profit from continuing operations stood at £3.39m, up from £3.37m the year before.

Revenue declined by 0.4% to £191.4m, with the 2.7% year-on-year revenue growth in the company’s Express Gifts division offset by an 8.2% decrease in its Findel Education business.

Findel’s Kitbag division, a retailer with exclusive rights to the online stores of some of the biggest sports organisations in the world, including Manchester United, British Lions and the NBA, was counted as a discontinued operation.

At the end of September, Findel revealed that it was in talks to sell the Kitbag brand.

During the 26 weeks to September 25, Kitbag made an operating loss of £4.2m, while revenue dropped by 2.1%.

David Sugden, the executive chairman of Findel, said: “Express Gifts has seen a remarkable improvement in its performance over the last four years and the business is confident that the recent slowdown in new customer recruitment will be reversed in future campaigns.

“The plans for recruitment all year round and maintaining the focus on delivering good value products to its 1.4m customers position it well for the future.”

He continued: “Findel Education is starting to make encouraging progress in recovering its market share.

“The steps we have taken to rationalise its warehousing overhead, combined with the key appointments made to strengthen its marketing and digital strategies provide a strong platform for significant medium-term profit growth.”

Speaking further, Mr Sugden said he believes the business is “well positioned” to increase its pre-tax profits for the full year.