Card Factory makes strong start to 2015
Greeting card retailer Card Factory increased its revenue by 7.5% in the three months to 30 April with the performance driven by like-for-like sales growth, new store openings and a rise in online sales.
The company said like-for-like sales growth in its stores had continued to be in the range set by management. In addition, 19 new stores were opened in the period to bring the total estate to 783 stores. Card Factory plans to open around 50 net new stores in the current financial year.
The company said its principal online business, Getting Personal, was performing well although it will face more challenging comparative figures in the second half of the year. At the end of April, Card Factory relaunched its Card Factory transactional website under the new web domain www.cardfactory.co.uk. Following a trial period, the company will explore various options to grow the online channel’s revenues from its current “very small” base.
Richard Hayes, Card Factory’s chief executive, said: “Following on from our record performance last year, we have had a positive start to our new financial year, with consistently strong revenue growth and cash generation and I remain confident that the group will achieve the board’s expectations for the full financial year.
“Our value retail proposition, built on our long-established vertically integrated model, remains highly differentiated, extremely difficult to replicate and, importantly, very attractive to the customer.”
