Card Factory trading performance ‘exceeds expectations’

Card Factory has announced that its performance following the reopening of stores in England and Wales “exceeded its expectations”.

The company has also revealed that it has agreed headline terms for refinancing of the group with its current syndicate of commercial lending banks, with a further update due in the next few weeks.

The news follows the group’s recent liquidity update which confirmed its intentions to refinance, as the banks have provided further waivers in respect of anticipated covenant breaches until 31 March 2021.

The group claimed that the banks had taken into account the company’s cash flow projections and that it had continued to engage in “constructive discussions” with the retailer.

In its most recent trading update, sales for the 11 months ended 31 December 2020 dropped by 38.1% year-on-year.

As a result of the “drastically reduced” footfall across all of its store locations, the company had previously warned that it will see a loss before tax of roughly £10m in its full-year results.

Paul Moody, executive chairman at Card Factory, said at the time: “Throughout 2020 we unwaveringly did all that was necessary to protect our colleagues and customers, making our stores one of the most Covid-secure shopping experiences available.

“The financial investment has been significant, but critical to enabling us to meet our social responsibility.”