Trading Update

The Character Group plc

designers, developers and international distributors of toys, games and giftware

Trading Update

The Character Group plc ("Character" or the "Group"), which holds its Annual General Meeting today

(16 January 2015), publishes the following update ahead of the meeting:-

Trading update

As announced in the statement on 3 December 2014, we are pleased to have seen solid growth in terms of both revenue and profitability in the year to 31 August 2014. This performance coupled with the ongoing increase in our market share, reinforced our position as one of the UK's leading toy companies.

Looking at this financial year, we have been very encouraged by trading in the run up to the 2014 Christmas season, which saw strong sales at consumer level and were ahead of our expectations. To date, sales in the current financial year are up approximately 28% over the same period last year.

As part of our 2015 domestic and international marketing programme, we will once again be officially unveiling our 2015 seasons' portfolio at The BTHA Toy Fair in London starting on 20 January (www.btha.co.uk/toy-fair). We continue to benefit from the quality of our established brands which we expect to be enhanced by the introduction of new product lines such as the recently announced licences for Clangers and Teletubbies.

The business is benefiting from the Group's stronger offering as a whole and this bodes well for the 2015 calendar year. The Directors also remain confident that the Company can deliver another year of solid progress, resulting in achieving at least current market expectations for the year ending 31 August 2015.

Annual General Meeting

The 2015 Annual General Meeting will be held at the offices of Duane Morris, 2nd Floor, 10, Chiswell Street, London EC1Y 4UQ at 11am on 16 January 2015.

A copy of the 2014 Annual Report can be viewed on, and downloaded from, the Group's website at www.thecharacter.com.