Card Factory announces 'satisfactory' results despite 14% dip in figures

Card Factory has revealed its interim results for the six months ended July 31, 2019.

The Wakefield-headquartered specialist retailer sells greeting cards, dressings and gifts. The highlights of these results included an increase of 5.5 per cent in revenue, coming in at £195.6m - compared to £185.3m previously.

Card Factory’s like-for-like sales have gone up 1.5 per cent, however the company’s underlying profit before tax currently stands at £22m, a major 7.9 per cent difference from £23.9m.

The greeting cards retailer also announced its profit before tax has reduced from £28.4m to £24.3m, a 14.4 per cent decrease.

Online, Cardfactory.co.uk’s sales grew by 25 per cent with good performance against external and internal KPIs.

Meanwhile, 26 net new stores have been opened which will hopefully drive additional revenue growth.

Karen Hubbard, Card Factory’s chief executive officer, concluded: “We have delivered a satisfactory sales performance in the first half of the year.

“A strong seasonal performance, which saw another year of record sales for both Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day, was achieved against the backdrop of an increasingly challenging UK high street environment and consequent weaker footfall.

“The successful seasonal trading, combined with more sophisticated use of data and improvements to our customer experience, gives us confidence for the key Christmas trading period ahead.”

She added: “Although the current economic uncertainty continues to impact consumer confidence, we remain positive about the resilience of the card market, the strength of the Card Factory business model, and our growth opportunities for the business over the medium term.”