Card Factory has posted a surge in profits and sales thanks to a strong trading performance in stores.
Pre-tax profits for the greetings card retailer rocketed 25% to £65.6m in the year to 31 January, up from £52.4m the year before.
Sales jumped 10% to £510.9m, which it said reflected “continued positive momentum across the business and effective execution of our strategy”.
Store sales grew 7.7% on a like-for-like basis, which Card Factory said “reflected development of our store layout, customer experience and ranges, as well as annualisation of targeted price increases”.
Meanwhile, online like-for-likes edged up 0.4%.
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Card Factory hailed positive progress with its partnerships business as sales rose to £17m, with its acquisition of SA Greetings in South Africa contributing £10.7m.
The retailer said trading since the start of the new financial year has been in line with the expectations, with “continued positive momentum across card, gifts and celebration essentials”.
Chief executive Darcy Willson-Rymer said: “I am delighted with the progress we have made through the year which would not have been achieved without the commitment and efforts of our colleagues.
“Now, three years into our ‘Opening our New Future Strategy’, Card Factory is financially and operationally a much stronger business.
Willson-Rymer said this meant it could “invest in the future, while effectively navigating the ongoing economic environment”.
“We have confidence in our strong value and quality customer proposition, and remain on track for both this financial year and for achieving our FY27 targets.”
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