Greeting cards giant Clinton Cards registered an 18 per cent jump in adjusted net pre-tax profits in the half year to January 27.

The£24.4 million profit came on the back of like-for-like sales increases at both the eponymous Clinton chain, up 1.2 per cent and Birthdays, up 4.7 per cent.

However, Clinton's total group sales were down fractionally to£256.9 million for the period as a result of the closure of 20 stores.

Clinton Cards chairman Don Lewin remained upbeat despite trading conditions, which he described as “challenging”. “The group's performance gives the board a degree of confidence for the remainder of the year as we continue to focus on product differentiation and improvements across both brands," he said.

Clinton's launched a transactional web site in November, but said “sales are still modest”. The retailer's stores have started selling a range of stored value gift cards and will start selling pay-as-you-go mobile phone top-up vouchers in the second half.

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