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LONDON (Alliance News) - Card Factory PLC on Tuesday said revenue and profit rose in the first half, but like-for-like sales slipped a little amid a weak UK consumer environment.
The greeting cards retailer said pretax profit grew 17% in the six months to the end of July to GBP27.2 million from GBP23.2 million reported a year ago, as revenue increased by 3.2% to GBP185.3 million from GBP179.6 million.
Card Factory maintained its interim payout at 2.9 pence per share. In addition, it declared a special dividend of 5.0p.
On the like-for-like basis, sales fell by 0.2%, impacted by lower high street footfall in a weak consumer environment, the company said. Trading performance at the Getting Personal division remains challenging, the company noted, with increased price competition and rising costs of customer acquisition impacting the business.
Despite that, Card Factory opened 25 new UK stores during the period, bringing the total UK estate to 940. In the Republic of Ireland, it also opened one trial store in the first half.
Looking forward, the company said it is on track to deliver 50 new UK openings by the year-end.
"Profitability was impacted by lower like-for-like sales, but we continue to largely mitigate the headwinds we face through various business efficiencies," said Chief Executive Karen Hubbard.
"We remain positive about the growth prospects for the business over the medium term," added Hubbard.
Card Factory shares were down 3.4% on Tuesday morning at 179.80p each.
