Home shopping group Findel said it is on track to deliver “strong profit growth” as sales rose 3.8% in the 16 weeks to January 17.

The sales rise represents an acceleration from the 3.4% in the 8 weeks to November 22.

In its year to date, Findel sales have advanced 4.6% driven by its Express Gifts business which experienced a 6.9% sales jump since its half year of September 28.

During the period, it agreed an increase in its securitised debt facility to fund growth in Express Gifts.

Express Gifts has also experienced a “significant improvement” in product gross margins. The catalogue business has also grown its customer number base by 8.3% which it said provided a “strong platform” for continued growth.

Sports etailer Kitbag is “underperforming” against Findel’s expectations as work continues on its turnaround and the restructuring of unprofitable store operations.

Since its half year, sales were down 4.3% compared to the 11% decline in its first half.

However, Findel said there was a “strong pipeline” for Kitbag, which has recently launched online sales in Europe for the US National Hockey League.

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