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LONDON (Alliance News) - International Greetings PLC Wednesday reported a slight fall in profits for its last financial year, on lower revenue and increased capital investment.
The gift packaging and greetings card manufacturer posted a pretax profit of GBP5.2 million for the financial year ended March 31, compared with GBP5.7 million the prior year.
The company said the small drop in profit for the year was due to a slight fall in revenues and higher exceptional costs associated with an increase in capital investment as it restructured its manufacturing facilities in Wales.
Revenues for the year were GBP224.5 million, slightly lower than the GBP225.2 million reported a year earlier.
International Greetings said revenues were driven by good growth within its European business, whilst trading in the US was held back by extreme weather conditions and winter storms in the US.
It said that growth also was supported by online retailers like Ocado Group PLC and Amazon Inc, as new products were introduced to those websites.
The company said the major upgrade of its gift-wrap manufacturing facilities in Wales was completed on time and on budget.
During the year, the company acquired the trade and certain assets of Netherlands-based gift-wrap manufacturer Enper Giftwrap BV for roughly EUR1.9 million, which will widen its customer base and boost its market position in Europe.
International Greetings said it reduced its net debt by 12% during the year to GBP36.9 million and is confident it is on track to meet its three-year plan of overall double digit earnings per share growth.
"As we enter the second year of our new three-year plan, we are on plan to deliver double-digit cumulative average growth in earnings per share and are ahead of schedule to meet our commitment to reduce debt and leverage below two times debt/EBITDA. We look forward to the future with confidence," said Chief Executive Officer Paul Fineman in a statement.
International Greetings shares were up 4.7% at 78.50 pence Wednesday morning.
By Rowena Harris-Doughty; rowenaharrisdoughty@alliancenews.com; @rharrisdoughty
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