Card Factory posts sales rise despite tough trading conditions

Card Factory said group sales rose 5.5% in the six months to July 31, when like-for-like sales advanced 1.5%. The retailer described performance as “robust in a challenging consumer environment”.

The retailer said it had opened 26 net new UK stores and about 50 will have opened in this country and the Republic of Ireland over the full year. It also reported “encouraging progress on a number of business development and efficiency initiatives” such as selling through Aldi branches.

Card Factory chief executive Karen Hubbard said: “Our quality and value proposition continues to resonate well with customers – reflected by the good performance of our seasonal ranges in the first half of the year. We continue to work hard at making sure we have the right ranges at the right prices for our customers, in the store and online.

“Alongside that, we remain focused on our important commercial and business efficiency initiatives – all of which will make Card Factory a much stronger business for the long term.

“We continue with the trials within Aldi and The Reject Shop in Australia; a further update will be given at our interims announcement in September.

“Looking forward to the forthcoming key quarter-four trading period, which will have a significant impact on the outturn for the full year, we believe we have the right ranges and products to deliver a good performance; although we are cognisant of the economic and political uncertainty and weaker consumer confidence. The board anticipates profits for the full year to be broadly in line with its previous expectations.”