By Laura McGuire
Card Factory has reported a 72.7 per cent leap in profit before tax to the end of July, as the occasion market showed signs of strength despite the cost of living crisis.
The seller of personalised celebration cards and gifts said revenues also grew 11.5 per cent to £220.8m as the company’s affordable products appealed to customers amid a challenging economic market.
However the group said that online like-for-like sales were down 13.1 per cent when compared to the same period last year.
This was due to the company rebalancing its physical retail sales and online offering. The company, which trades from over 1,000 sites, is currently rolling out a “Store Evolution Programme” which involves revamping its stores.
Card Factory said: “Early results are showing increased customer satisfaction and a positive revenue impact with the reduction in space allocated to cards not adversely impacting category sales, while revenue growth resulted from increased space seen in celebration essentials and gifting.”
Card Factory said it is continuing to trade inline with market expectations and said it was fully prepared for its vital Christmas trading season.
The retailer said: “Whilst we remain mindful of the challenging economic backdrop and the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on discretionary spend, we continue to be encouraged by the resilience of the celebration occasions market and the growth opportunity it presents.”
“Our experience in the first half of the year confirms that our value and quality proposition across our card, gift and celebration essential ranges continues to resonate well with customers.”
