Card Factory trading ahead of expectations

GENERAL MERCHANDISE

Greeting cards retailer Card Factory has reported trading ahead of expectations after it benefited from customers’ continued return to the high street.

Sales in the 11 months to 31 December rose to £432.6 million from £337.3 in the same period in the prior year.

Meanwhile store revenue grew by 7.1% on a like-for-like basis.

Card Factory said strong Christmas trading was driven by improvements in both store transactions and average basket values. Due to customers returning to high streets and Royal Mail holding strikes, online sales fell by 27.6% year-on-year, although cardfactory.co.uk sales remain 85.2% up on pre-pandemic levels three years ago.

The company’s board now expects EBITDA for the 12 months to 31 January 2023 to be at least £106 million. 

Darcy Willson-Rymer, chief executive of Card Factory, said: “We’re pleased and encouraged by the continued strong performance of the business.  With delivery of our growth strategy progressing well, it is great to see some of the benefits from this work starting to come through in our financial performance. “