Card Factory ups FY guidance amid strong Xmas sales

Card Factory has raised its full-year guidance following a year of “good momentum” across the business, with sales boosted by a return to high street spending, particularly over the Christmas trading period. The group anticipates that EBITDA in FY23 will now be at least £106m, up from a previous guidance of £96.9m, which would anticipate a profit-before-tax of around £48m. It comes as sales hit £432.6m in the 11 months to 31 December 2022, up from £337.3m the prior year, as more customers returned to the high street following the reversal of lockdown effects. This was particularly evidenced by store revenue rising 7.1% on a LFL basis, with store transactions and average basket values also improving on the previous period. Despite the strong high street performance, sales for cardfactory.co.uk were impacted by the December Royal Mail strikes, and online sales were down by 27.6% year-on-year as more customers opted for in-store purchases. However, the online performance still “remained comfortably ahead” of pre-pandemic levels. The group witnessed strong seasonal trading in stores over the Christmas period, in part supported by its range development as well as the forward ordering and delivery of Christmas ranges, which underpinned strong availability in stores across the Christmas period. Beyond seasonal trading, wedding, life moments, milestones and children's ranges were the best performing of the Everyday card range, and all saw double digit like-for-like growth. Darcy Willson-Rymer, CEO, 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. “I'd like to thank all our colleagues who have supported these changes and worked tirelessly over the important Christmas trading period. There is still more work to be done but we are very excited by the opportunities ahead and have confidence in our Opening Our New Future growth strategy."