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(Alliance News) - Tandem Group PLC on Thursday said its toy business performed particularly well in the recent half-year, while independent bicycle dealer sales were hurt by reduced consumer demand for bicycles.
Tandem shares were down 13% on Thursday at 174.90 pence each in London.
Ahead of its annual general meeting, the sports and leisure products distributor said its current financial year has continued to be "encouraging", with revenue for the 25 week period to last Sunday 26% ahead of the same period in the previous year.
Tandem said revenue growth has been driven principally by its character-licensed wheeled toy business.
"Despite the recent disappointing toy industry data and against an increasingly uncertain retail and macro-economic backdrop, we have performed well," said Chair Mervyn Keene.
The AIM-listed company noted that a number of its licensed properties - such as LOL Surprise!, Peppa Pig and Paw Patrol - were ahead of last year. Revenue growth also was boosted by Tandem's new Disney contract from Frozen, Spider-Man and, most notably, Toy Story licences.
"We are enthusiastic about the cinema release of Frozen 2 in November which should bring further growth," added Keene.
Turning to sports, Tandem said its independent bicycle dealer sales were "challenging" during the period, but national retailer bicycle sales were tracking at similar levels to last year.
"Sadly, there has been an ongoing decline in the more traditional independent bicycle dealer customer with many more long established retailers closing down this year and overall reducing consumer bicycle demand, particularly in the leisure market," explained Keene.
Looking ahead, Keene cautioned: "Whilst we can look forward to the rest of the year with some confidence there are a number of potential threats on the horizon."
