By Michael Susin
Card Factory PLC reported on Tuesday a swing to pretax profit in the first half of fiscal 2023, driven by a return to normal customer spending after the lifting of coronavirus measures.
The U.K. retailer of greeting cards and complementary products said pretax profit for the six months ended July 31 was 14.3 million pounds ($15.3 million) compared with a loss of GBP6.5 million.
Revenue rose to GBP198.0 million from GBP116.9 million, while revenue on a like-for-like basis grew 4.1%, reflecting the shift of customer spending back toward the high street and reversal of lockdown effects, it said.
The company said it expects pricing actions to be more weighted toward the second half into fiscal 2024 despite seeing continued wage inflation going forward.
“Considering the combination of good trading momentum in everyday product, alongside market uncertainty around consumer behavior through the Christmas season due to the cost-of-living impact and based on the current inflationary outlook, our expectations for the remainder of fiscal 2023 are unchanged,” Card Factory said.
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