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Card Factory has seen profits soar by 72.7% to £24.7m in its half-year results, up from £14.3m the prior year.
Its profit result was driven by strong sales over the period, with revenues up by 11.5% to £220.8m, as the group welcomed good momentum across the business, particularly in its stores.
Store sales grew by 10.5%, which the group said reflected its value and quality proposition, store range and layout developments and the annualisation of targeted price increases.
Another “key driver” in revenue growth came from its gifts and celebration essentials, which saw sales rise by 13.1% on a like-for-like basis. The group also saw continued growth in its greeting cards offering, where sales were up by 7.7%.
Despite this, online sales were down by 13.1%, reflecting an investment phase of this channel and the “continued rebalancing of retail sales between online and in Store across the sector”.
Looking ahead, the group said that with its strong first-half performance, together with its current outlook for the second half, it is “confident” in delivering a good outturn for the year.
CEO Darcy Willson-Rymer said: “We are delighted to announce a strong performance in the first six months of this year. 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.”
He added: “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.
“I would like to thank colleagues across the Card Factory business for their ongoing dedication in delivering on our strategic building blocks of growth. We continue to focus on the delivery of our long-term targets and in achieving our ambition of becoming a market leading omni-channel retailer of cards and gifts.”
