Does anyone know why the shares have fallen today despite Christmas coming, past year's increased trading and new stores opened?

Whats wrong with clinton cards the sp says its friendless with a 3% yield it can`t be the worst shop on the highstreet,come on there must be someone with a birthday coming up!

It's not trendy anymore.Everyone goes on about the big supermarkets competing.Not earthmoving and you can get 3% elsewhere.

Recently broke to new all-time highs and pulled back. Growth predictions not the best for the coming year and less than average yield.

Wouldn't expect fireworks.

Lots more shops selling cards on the High Street at much lower prices, at least there are in my home town, but then again shops in Barnsley have to compete with the Charity and pound shops which are around in great numbers in the town center.

Down over 10% since my last look in late feb,i like it a touch more now,no position yet.

Very appealing at this level mid 80s.

Just bought a few more cards long at 77,anybody got a birthday coming up!

I bought in the thick of the melee yesterday at 70p well oversold.

Happy with todays volume & closing price,looking for a quick 15% upside from my 77,you did well with that 70 scripophilist smash & grab..

Back in for a few more at 67.

Powered by IST's

For chrismas.

54/54.5p.send no cards this xmas or will you.

nice move.

profits soar well done.

now 63/64.5p thanks xsteffx

Clinton Cards reported a sharp rise in its full-year profits and is confident of further progress in the coming year although high street trading remains challenging.

The card retailer said adjusted pretax profit for the year ended July 29 was 17 mln stg, versus 6.1 mln stg last year, and net pretax profit more than tripled to 15.1 mln stg from 4.7 mln stg.

'The combination of trading conditions, a focus on controlling costs and improved product margins, together with store rationalisation, was reflected in significantly improved profits,' chairman Don Lewin said in a statement.

The company said adjusted operating profit nearly doubled to 20.9 mln stg from 10.6 mln.

Revenues fell to 460.1 mln stg from 472.3 mln, due to trading from 73 fewer stores, but like-for-like sales for the group rose 3.1 pct, with the Clinton brand increasing sales by 2.8 pct and the Birthdays brand by 4.3 pct.

Trading in both brands has increased on last year but conditions on the high street are still challenging, it said.

The store rationalisation in the Birthdays brand and the margin improvements, resulted in a better performance from Birthdays and a reduced operating loss, Clinton Cards said. The timing of the sale of the 40-plus loss-making stores will affect the performance of the Birthdays brand in the year to July 2008, it added.

The company said it expects further opportunities for the Clinton brand, which enjoyed an excellent year and has a strong position in the high street.

In the nine weeks to Sept 30, it said like-for-like sales in the Birthdays brand grew 4.8 pct and in the Clinton brand by 2.0 pct.

The company set a final dividend of 1.70 pence, taking the total dividend for the year to 2.42 pence, up 38 pct from last year's 1.75 pence.

At 08.23 am, its shares were about 6 pct, or 3.75 pence, higher at 64.00 pence.

BOO ?

Clinton Cards PLC
30 October 2007

The following replaces RNS 6056G. Other items have been included

CLINTON CARDS PLC

30 October 2007

Annual Information Update

In accordance with Prospectus Rule 5.2 the following information has been
published or made available to the public between 4th November 2006 to 26th
October 2007 inclusive.

1. RNS Announcements

7 November 2006 Annual Information Update
21 November 2006 Holding in Company
30 November 2006 AGM Statement
1 December 2006 Holding in Company
8 December 2006 Voting Rights and Capital
11 December 2006 Holding in Company
13 December 2006 Holding in Company
21 December 2006 Holding in Company
29 December 2006 Holding in Company
8 January 2007 Trading Update
11 January 2007 Holding in Company
20 March 2007 Notice of Results
20 April 2007 Interim Results - 26 weeks ended 28 January 2007
27 April 2007 Holding in Company
10 September 2007 Notice of Results
18 September 2007 Holding in Company
9 October 2007 Final Results - 52 weeks ended 29 July 2007
23 October 2007 Holding in Company

GOT SOME WED DAY HOPE YOUR RIGHT

Clinton Cards said sales for the group in the five weeks to December 24th rose by 2.5%.

Like-for-like sales in its Clinton brand rose 1.7% in the period, and like-for-like sales in its Birthdays brand increased by 5.7%, the card retailer added.

So why have they gone??????

GONE WHAT

Everybody is sending e-cards...save some trees and money during credit crunch. Cards go to the bins after X'mas anyway. What a waste!

I'm always amazed at the price of cards - and presume this has to cover the fickle market that "we" are, creasing vast amounts of waste.

Yes, I agree e-cards are affecting their business, but there is no real substitute to a real card with your actual writing.
However, MoonPig appears to be attacking this Market and CC really should have some of this, wghere you can "on-Line" send a card a few days late and it will strill arrive on time (hope!). The Sp grap[h needed attention by Execs - but they are too cosy and protected from the reality of life....this is a graph of complacency - like Woolworths!

I think CC needs to be more with-it to survive, with expensive shops on the High Street....in these days of tight money...furthermore the fall of Woolworths will flood the market with cards at Xmas - the best time for CC.

WOOLIES WILL HELP

HAVE YOU SENT YOUR CARDS YET.

TO LOW 10P

Clinton dumps Birthdays
Business Financial Newswire

Clinton Cards has today put its loss-making subsidiary Birthdays into administration.

Clinton said there is little prospect of it generating a profit in the near future.

Birthdays' Irish subsidiary, Birthdays (Ireland) Ltd, has not been placed into administration and will continue to trade as normal.

Clintons purchased the Birthdays' business in December 2004.

Birthdays has continued to incur losses since that time and, although its sales performance has been improving, Clintons has had to continue to provide a significant amount of financial support.

The 332 Birthdays' stores, employing approximately 2,100 people, will continue to trade as usual while the administrators explore all options available to secure the future of the Birthdays' business.

Clintons said like-for-like sales in the 13 weeks to 3 May were flat.

This comprised a slight decline of 0.6% for the Clinton brand and an increase of 2.3% for the Birthdays brand.

OVER 22p.(why did theY buy BIRTHDAYS)

Clinton buy a total of 196 stores from Birthdays, acting by its
administrators, Zolfo Cooper. GBP3.25m of the GBP3.5m consideration will
be discharged by way of a reduction in the amount owed by Birthdays to Clintons.The successful purchase of a large proportion of the Birthdays stores
thereby ensuring employment for 1,450 people.

Since the Interim Management Statement on 13 May 2010 the Group has experienced weaker trading. Total sales are expected to be about 2% behind the Board's previous expectations, impacted by the disproportionately poor performance in 13 stores trading in Southern Ireland.

As a result, the Board now expects that the Group adjusted operating profit for
continuing operations will be similar to last year.

However, we continue to work with significant headroom across all of our
banking covenants.

==========================

So, less than 2 months on from their last statement they are having to chop their expectations. Doesn't say much for management awareness. Not surprising that the share price lurches around month by month.

FWIW, I think this stock is held by a family so the management is somewhat blinkered from the Market gnerally. They will believe things will return soon and that "everyone has a birthday"
However, as folk lose jobs there will be fewer office leaving do's and fewer birthday collections etc (every office has an organiser), put that with the oversupply of cheaper cards in the High Street and you have dead stock on shelves.
Clinton has expensive shops to maintain and their cards aren't cheap either.
Indeed I'm surprised it's this high with little to drive UK plc into profit for the next 3-4 years....What do others see...?
EDIT -(7Jy10)-Skinny, yes and I recall seeing two "Card Factory" shops at each end of at least one High Street - don't let's forget that small shops can sometime negotiate very low rents, to "tidy-up" the area.

With the likes of the Card Factory, I can't believe these are still around.

XMAS IS ON IT WAY THIS COULD BE THE BOTTOM. 30p

Profit warning.

I'm not buying this till March.

"I'm not buying this till March."

I'm not buying Mitzy -):

lol Stan..

Chimp share to buy.

For a banana ? :-)

lol skinny.

last time it eas 5p it hit 50p within 12 months.

Off again when will it finish.

As I said in post 37 - I can't believe they are still around!

I may buy @5p whether they can go to 50p again its 50/50.

Big faller today.

Bad results this morning. Having to buy in cards (many from Hallmark), while rivals design and print their own, makes it impossible for Clinton to compete.

I'm surprised that sales only fell 2.9% - they are an 80's throw back.

High street drop-out.

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Well shock horror (not)!

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If you read the detail, this looks like a very sharp move by American Greetings go for vertical integration and get a cheap football in the UK retail space. Clintons and their shareholders have been done over.

AG approach RBS, read covenants, realise it's a good way to pick them up on the cheap. RBS are happy to offload debt, AG but debt and force administration.

Next move AG approach administrators to 'save' business.

Very smart move, ethical way to do business? Not so sure. BUt then maybe they shouldn't have carried that debt?

Frankly I'm surprised it's legal.... but what do I know?
If you buy the debt, presumably you expect it will be repiad at the same rate/term as originally set out. Otherwise any good business could be ruined by calling-in an agreed loan on a whim at any inconvenient moment.

Isn't this the same - the new owner of the debt is ratting on the Terms, for their own adjenda..... seems to me Clinton should go to Court and insist the Terms are adhered top or face a penalty (for example the repayment at a low-ratio, like 1p/£ since this is an aggravated calling).
Clearly the new owner (of the CC debt) has never had any intention of letting the debt run its course.

All large companies have some debt, usually it's to tide them over and is repaid on a regular basis. Then there is L-T debt, where new infrastructure (like an factory) is required abd the terms are agree, maybe being repaid over 25 years as suits both parties. I suspect, but don't know, that CC had to raise money to perform a retail restructure and that this would have come good when the Ecomony returns . . . . naturally, I shall be walking into every Carlton Card shop wherever I see them in the UK....buying my fill of their cards almost without a thought.

Another one bites the dust.

..Clinton Cards axes 2,800 jobs

By Harry Wallop | Telegraph – 51 minutes ago


......
Nearly 3,000 Clinton Cards (LSE: CC.L - news) employees are to lose their jobs over the next two weeks, the administrator of the stricken retailer has warned.

By the start of June about 350 of the 784 shops run by Clinton Cards will be shut, affecting 2,800 full-time and part-time employees.

There was a hope that the greetings card company would continue to trade more or less unaffected, as the administrator sought a buyer for all or parts of the business. However,

Peter Saville, joint administrator and partner at Zolfo Cooper said: “Given the sheer size of the Clinton Cards retail estate and the overall performance, we were left with no alternative to today’s difficult decision. I am hopeful that the action we have taken will allow us to preserve value in the core underlying business, thereby allowing us and potential buyers to focus on a profitable and viable retail estate going forward.”

The axed shops include all of the 150 Birthdays retail outlets, and about 200 Clinton branded shops.

The company collapsed earlier this month, unable to pay its annual rental bill of £80m and estimated debts of about £100m.

The plug was pulled when its chief supplier, American Greetings, who was already owed £25m for unpaid stock, bought £35m of Clinton’s debt from the banks.

It then immediately called in the debt, triggering the administration.

The supplier is a possible bidder, alongside WHSmith and rival Card Factory.

..

Surprise, surprise. We've been robbed!

Clinton Cards sold to US firm American Greetings

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18356057

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