Card Factory has posted an uptick in profits as its expansion strategy and investment into store portfolio pays off.
Pre-tax profits for the greeting cards retailer rocketed 72.7% to £24.7m in the six months to 31 July 2023, up from £14.3m.
Sales surged 11.5% to £220.8m, which was underpinned by the “continued good momentum across the business, particularly in the core stores business”.
Store sales grew 10.5% on a like-for-like sales basis, which the retailer attributed to success of its new card ranges, “improvements to merchandising layouts and the annualisation of targeted price increases”.
However, online like-for-like half year sales dropped 13.1% due to the “continued rebalancing of online/offline retail sales across the sector”.
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Card Factory hailed positive progress with its partnerships business as sales rose to £6.4m.
This was helped by £2.2m from its acquisition of SA Greetings in South Africa and new agreements signed with Matalan in the UK and Liwa Trading Enterprises in the Middle East.
Chief executive Darcy Willson-Rymer said: “We continue to build the key foundations for growth through the delivery of our ‘Opening Our New Future’ strategy.
“Our value and quality proposition and the strength of our store estate resonates with customers and positions us well to navigate the challenging economic backdrop in the run up to the Christmas trading season.
“Continued leveraging of the insights gathered from our investment in customer data is enabling us to evolve and optimise our store formats and ranges across cards, gifts and celebration essentials, all underpinned by our discipline in maintaining a resilient financial position.
“We continue to focus on the delivery of our long-term targets and in achieving our ambition of becoming a market leading omnichannel retailer of cards and gifts.”
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