Card Factory PLC on Tuesday said it had a good Christmas and is continuing to outperform the challenging non-food retail market.
The Wakefield, West Yorkshire-based greeting cards and gifting firm said sales for the eleven months to the end of December increased 6.2% to £506.6 million from £476.9 million in the previous year.
It said total store revenue increased by 5.7%, with 32 net new stores. Like-for-like store revenue grew 3.9%.
The company said its Christmas trading performance was good and in line with expectations, with total revenue growth of 4.7%. LFL store revenue grew 3.0% in November and December.
It expects to deliver adjusted pretax profit in line with current market expectations in the 2025 financial year.
It sees the current consensus estimate as between £65.7 million and £67.0 million, with an average of £66.0 million. Adjusted pretax profit was £62.1 million in financial 2024.
Card Factory said upcoming changes to the national living wage and employer national insurance contributions will cause annual cost inflation of around £14 million in financial 2026.
It expects to offset this through its ‘productivity and efficiency programme’ as well as range development and pricing.
It forecasts mid-to-high single digit percentage growth in pretax profit in financial 2026.
Chief Executive Officer Darcy Willson-Rymer said: ‘We are pleased to have delivered another successful Christmas trading period... Expanded ranges and our compelling gift and celebration essentials offer increased basket values during the period, whilst we also saw a resilient performance in seasonal cards, with customers responding well to our strong value and quality ranges.
‘Continued revenue growth, combined with the benefits of our productivity and efficiency programme, have enabled us to navigate a challenging retail environment and deliver a robust performance in the second half.’
Card Factory share were up 5.5% to 95.70 pence in London on Tuesday afternoon.
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