Key facts

Leading specialist retailer in the large and robust UK greetings card market: with the value of the singles card market growing and card sending “ingrained” in the UK culture (c. 30 cards sent per adult per annum in the UK)

Approximately one third of our sales are from gift dressings, small gifts and party products, a market estimated to be worth £1-2bn

Operate from over 700 stores across the UK: c50+ stores a year opened over the past 10 years

16 years of unbroken revenue growth: sales of £327m in year to 31 January 2014

Value retailer, with high quality products at affordable prices: majority of cards sold for less than £1

c.6,500 employees in the UK (plus up to 6,000 additional seasonal staff)

Over £2.8m raised for Macmillan Cancer Support

Headquartered in Wakefield, West Yorkshire

Company Website

Financial Calendar

Recent Broker notes

BarChart Indicators

Recent Market news

Card factory's Fundamentals (CARD)

Interim Management Statement

Key highlights

· Ongoing positive growth in like-for-like sales from existing store estate
· Continued new store roll out with 29 net new stores opened
· Strong pipeline of future new store opportunities
· Appointment of Geoff Cooper (Non-Executive Chairman), Octavia Morley (Senior
Independent Non-Executive Director) and David Stead (Independent Non-Executive Director)
· Admitted to trading on the London Stock Exchange
· Completion of senior debt refinancing, significantly reducing annual interest cost


Recent trading performance

The Group continues to trade in line with the Board's expectations.

In the period under review, the Group has continued to grow like-for-like sales and expand its retail estate from its established new store roll out programme.

In the first four months of the current financial year, 29 net new stores have been opened, bringing the total estate to 742 stores as at 31 May 2014. The Group has a strong pipeline of additional new store opportunities and remains confident of opening a total of approximately 50 net new stores in the current financial year in line with historic opening rates.

As described in its IPO prospectus dated 15 May 2014 (the "Prospectus"), the Group has opened an average of over 50 new stores per year over the past 10 years and intends to continue to expand its store portfolio organically to up to 1,200 stores in total over the next 10 years, including up to 100 potential new stores in the Republic of Ireland.

Completion of senior debt refinancing

As announced on 2 June 2014, the Company also completed the refinancing of its existing senior bank facilities.

As set out in the Prospectus, the new senior bank facilities (used in part for the refinancing) include a £180 million term loan facility and a £20 million revolving facility (both with a 5 year maturity).

As previously announced, taking into account the IPO proceeds and transaction costs, the Group had net debt on 20 May 2014, the date that the Group's shares were admitted to listing, of approximately £160 million, representing approximately 2.0x underlying EBITDA for the year ended 31 January 2014. The financial position of the Group has not changed materially since.

Analyst visit

Card Factory is hosting a site visit for analysts today, including a tour of the Group's design studio and printing operation, a visit to local stores and a presentation from senior management. No new material financial or other information will be provided during the visit.

Interim results

The Group will announce its interim results for the 6 months ended 31 July 2014 in September.

Richard Hayes, Card Factory's Chief Executive Officer, said:

"We have had a positive start to our current financial year, further developing our distinctive value proposition and continuing to deliver on our clear growth strategy. The Board remains confident of the Group's ability to further grow market share for the foreseeable future."



ENDS

Investec Buy 208.50 204.50 - 245.00 Initiates/Starts

One to watch for chrismas

Canaccord Genuity Buy 244.05 242.10 - 270.00 Initiates/Starts

CARD... Card Factory, last results very solid hitting new highs. Could be a good xmas for this one. Tills are roaring ive just heard on twitter.

Here we are.........

Traders Own ‏@TradersOwn 14 minutes ago
@-------- A member of staff went into the #CardFactory last weekend. Massive queue of people. Waited 10 mins. The tills are ringing!

loads of card shops fold every year - eg clintons and now lorimers (which may just local to here) - as it's low value (avr below £1.00 here) albeit high profit margin, with main sales being very seasonal

fewer and fewer cards are now being sold - ask your local postie
in addition, there's the advent of on-line cards like moonpig and a number of others


finally ....
Massive queue of people. Waited 10 mins.
customers will not tolerate this for long


personally, i think this is one to avoid

19 Dec 2014 Card Factory Plc... CARD Investec Buy 269.10 271.60 270.00 310.00 Reiterates

SP TARGET 310p

From yesterday : Trading Statement

Card Factory, the UK's leading specialist retailer of greeting cards, gifts and dressings, is pleased to announce its trading update covering the period from 1 February 2014 to date. Operational and financial information relates to the 11 months ended 31 December 2014 unless stated otherwise.

The Group continues to trade in line with the Board's expectations.

The Group remains highly cash generative. The Board expects to report a significant reduction in net debt at the year end to a level lower than the current range of market expectations (see Note 3 below).

In the 11 months ended 31 December 2014, revenue increased by 8.1%, driven by a combination of like-for-like sales growth, new store roll out and further growth in our online business, Getting Personal. This growth rate is similar to that delivered in the 11 months ended 31 December 2013 (8.9%).

Delivering on our four pillars of growth

1. Like-for-like sales growth in existing stores

Card Factory's like-for-like store sales grew by +1.8% during the period despite a strong comparable period last year when like-for-like sales grew by +3.1% (see Note 2 below).

The like-for-like performance since the half year reflects, in part, investment in localised pricing strategies adopted during the year, particularly in the final quarter. We will continue to adopt this approach to strongly defend our market leading position, whilst maintaining our focus on delivering best-in-class margins.

2. Continuing new store roll out

A total of 51 net new stores have been opened in the year to date, bringing the total estate to 764 stores as at 31 December 2014.

Looking ahead to our next financial year ending 31 January 2016, the Group has a strong pipeline of additional new store opportunities and we remain confident of continuing our historic opening rate of approximately 50 net new stores per annum.

3. Delivering business efficiencies

The Group has consistently delivered extremely strong margins by leveraging its vertically integrated model which has been established and developed over many years. The Board continues to balance the driving of economies of scale and business efficiencies with ongoing investment in the business in anticipation of future growth.

A key focus for this investment has been the continued roll out of our new EPOS system which is now installed in over 50% of the store estate. As disclosed previously, the Board anticipates a number of business efficiencies will flow from this system over the medium term.

4. Development of complementary online sales channel

The Group, as a relatively new entrant, continues to grow its online division rapidly, with continued double digit revenue growth achieved through Getting Personal since the half year stage.

As previously announced, Paul McCrudden, EMEA Head of Content Marketing at Twitter, has joined the Board as an Independent Non-Executive Director. Paul brings a wealth of digital and marketing experience that will be particularly helpful as we continue to develop our online activities.

Preliminary results announcement

The Group will announce its preliminary results for the year ending 31 January 2015 on 25 March 2015.

Card Factory eyes Paperchase purchase

Discount card retailer is said to be keen to get its hands on its upmarket rival's books


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/11368532/Card-Factory-eyes-Paperchase-purchase.html

Ex-dividend 30th April 6.8p.

Trading Statement

Key highlights

· Board's expectations for the full financial year unchanged
· Like-for-like store sales growth within management target range
· Continued store roll out with 19 net new stores opened
· Strong pipeline of new store opportunities for the remainder of the financial year
· Relaunch of Card Factory transactional website (www.cardfactory.co.uk)
· Further strong revenue growth from Getting Personal (www.gettingpersonal.co.uk)
· Strong cash generation with further reduction in net debt
· Planned return of surplus cash towards end of current financial year

more....

Trading Update

Card Factory, the UK's leading specialist retailer of greeting cards, dressings and gifts, is pleased to announce a trading update for the six months ended 31 July 2015.

Key highlights

· Total sales growth of +8.0% (H1 FY15: +8.9%)
· Like-for-like store sales growth of +2.7% (H1 FY15: +2.6%)
· Continued store roll out with 36 net new stores opened (H1 FY15: 36)
· 800th store opened during the period
· Confident of delivering another year of approximately 50 net new openings
· Further strong revenue growth from Getting Personal (www.gettingpersonal.co.uk)
· Relaunch of Card Factory transactional website (www.cardfactory.co.uk)
· Planned return of surplus cash towards end of current financial year
· Board's expectations for the full financial year unchanged

Recent trading performance

The Group has continued to trade in line with the Board's expectations.

more....

ShareCast News) - Broker Peel Hunt reiterated its 'buy' recommendation for Card Factory, saying the retailer was one of its top picks for the sector, especially as it was "all systems go" for the upcoming special dividend.
First-half results from the FTSE 250 group indicated a 1% acceleration in the second-quarter pace of growth to 8% like-for-like sales.

There were a few more store closures in Q2 "but the fact is that underlying LFL has picked up here", Peel Hunt said, which implied further market share gain.

"The impact of WH Smith's Card Market has clearly been negligible and has not destabilised the overall market, and it is surely time for a strategic change of direction - and probably store closures - at Clintons."

The broker also expects that, net, there will be less competition this time next year than there are now, indicating that the barriers to entry from the vertical integration are working.

But the main focus was the cash return that management has pledged, with news expected of a "material cash distribution " with the interim results on 22 September.

'Cash Factory', as the broker calls the company, is extremely cash generative, with new stores paying back in less than a year and the business model requiring limited underlying capex and working capital investments.

"Management has been very clear that it will return any excess cash to shareholders and we think that this means a return of between £220m and £335m over the next three years."

Ex dividend tomorrow - 17.5p.

Trading Statement Thursday 26th

StockMarketWire.com

Card Factory expects full-year underlying pre-tax profits will be slightly ahead of market consensus after a good Christmas trading period and against a strong comparative.

The group said this was driven by a combination of like-for-like sales growth and new store roll out.

Year-to-date like-for-like store sales growth improved to 0.4% (11 months ended 31 December 2015: +2.8%).

Against a strong prior year comparative, Card Factory stores delivered a good Christmas trading performance with cumulative like-for-likes for the fourth quarter of the financial year returning to the historic range of 1% to 3%.

A trading update said: "cardfactory.co.uk, ourtransactional site, continues to grow from a low base.

"Including sales from cardfactory.co.uk, total Card Factory year-to-date like-for-like sales grew by 0.5% (11 months ended 31 December 2015: +3.0%)."

Card Factory said the board was confident of delivering full year underlying profit before tax for the current financial year slightly ahead of analyst consensus.

What was the big drop in September for?

CARD FACTORY PLC (CARD.LN) declared a 15-pence-a-share special dividend, despite reporting a 14% fall in pretax profit for the first half of fiscal 2018, citing high cash generation.

Shares down 55.8 pence, or 15.72%, at 299.20 pence.

I suspect the highlighted bits below:

StockMarketWire.com
Card Factory saw strong revenue growth in the first half and has declared a special dividend while investing for the future.

Revenues for the six months to the end of July rose by 6.1% to £179.6m - up 6.7% on an equivalent number of trading days - with like-for-like sales up 3.1%.

Underlying EBITDA fell by 4% to £32.8m and operating profits were down 13.9% at £24.6m.

The group declared an interim dividend of 2.9p per share - up 3.6% - and special dividend of 15p per share, return of £51.2m to shareholders.

Chief executive Karen Hubbard said: 'We have delivered a solid set of interim results with strong growth in like-for-like sales and total revenue, despite the decline in footfall seen across the high street; however, profitability over the half year was impacted by foreign exchange, national living wage and some of the important investments we are making in the business for longer term growth.

'Our business model remains highly cash generative and we are pleased to be announcing another special dividend of 15 pence per share.

'Together with the interim dividend, this means we will have returned £246.5m to shareholders since IPO in May 2014.

Thanks chaps, seems reasonable.

Woodford over 5% http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=5705067

Looking positive Stan - Q3 Trading Statement sometime mid November.

Are you sure Skinny about that, the last TS was in August.

Only going by the last 2 years - see - "Financial Calendar" link in the header.

xd is 9 November

Indeed 2R2 paying over 5% as well.

Added more on the dip.

what looks cheap today could easily be cheaper tomorrow
i confess i have never been a fan of this stock for all sorts of reasons (see #7), though i know goldfinger (3i or whatever) certainly used to be

I don't deal in "could" Alf...just get ya money on.

not likely - per above

Your loss sun beam 😂

Trading update. http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=5743907

Doing nicely!

Yes back on the up after the usual ex-divi dip.

Bad news in the retail sector yesterday from greetings card firm Card Factory (CARD). The company reduced its earnings expectations from between £93m and £95m, down from £97.8m. Card Factory also warned of an extra £7m to £8m in costs, causing the shares to plummet 20% to 225.8p.

Ed: At the same time the CEO spends about 50K in topping up her holding.

http://http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=5812254

oh dear oh dear stan ...... you haven't been losing your money have you?
what have i told you several times about this company, though you chose to scoff

the chart tells no lies .......

Another Director 50K share purchase http://http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=5817863

follow at your peril

Save your asinine comments for somewhere.

oh dear oh dear .... do i hear the bleating of someone who, not so long ago, was crowing that failing to buy at that point was a missed opportunity?
i wonder if said person now has the aroma about him of distinctly overcooked meat
that would be just so sad

What goes on in Freda's mind?

Post 34-41
Fred1New

"DOING NICELY"

The hypocrisy of Freda knows no bounds.

Plastic Marxists buy government backed shares. LOL!!!!!

hey CC; wrong thread old chap :-)

hey CC; wrong thread old chap :-)

P off Muppets.

if you can't take it, then don't dish it
as you will have noted, i have no sympathy for you and nor do you deserve it

No right thread cyners, irony and sarcasm can't beat it :0)

Is around two quid a fair price now?

P46 pot and kettle as usual.

If you have nothing intelligent to say then say it somewhere else.

et toi meme mon petit choux

trust not 3rd degree burns

Zzzzzzz now go and stork somewhere else or maybe a website for the under 5s.

This is website is for shares and not for personal snipes at people.

unlike you then ....... now own up to having dropped a complete bollock and a load of splosh on this one

cynic - Don't be a twat :0)

.

why not :-)

stan deserves it, as has sniped at me for many a moon, so i took this excellent opportunity to bite his ankles ...... which clearly he does not like - shame!

gloat

verb

gerund or present participle: gloating

dwell on one's own success or another's misfortune with smugness or malignant pleasure.

synonyms: delight in, relish, take great pleasure in, enjoy greatly, revel in, rejoice in, glory in, exult in, triumph over, crow over; More

absolutely .... all of the above :-)

Artemis add http://http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=5824878

Card factory said Tuesday profit before tax fell 12.3% to £72.6m in the year ending 31 January, despite reporting a 2.9% increase in like-for-like sales.

Pre-tax profit was weighed by cost headwinds totalling £14.6m for the year, driven by the combined impact of foreign exchange and national living wage.

The firm reported that revenue rose 6% to £422.1m from £398.2m despite a 'tough consumer environment' as High Street footfall declined.

The final dividend per share increased by 1.6% to 6.4p, from 6.3p the previous year. While, a special dividend is expected to be declared with the release of half year results in the range of 5p to 10p per ordinary share.

Card factory continued to expand its store portfolio, opening 50 new stores in the period, bringing its total UK estate to 915. While, six trial stores were opened in the Republic of Ireland.

The firm warned, however, that EBITDA growth in 2019 will be limited amid continuing headwinds.

Karen Hubbard, Chief Executive Officer, said: 'We delivered strong like-for-like sales growth in a tough trading environment. We sold more cards than the prior year, and delivered a higher average card selling price and total basket size.'

'We also saw a record breaking number of customers shopping with Card Factory for both card and complementary non-card products, demonstrating our resilience against a backdrop of High Street footfall decline. Our store roll-out programme continues, with 50 new UK sites opened in the year, and our Card Factory online business has seen further growth, with increased visitors and sales, and represents a clear opportunity for future growth.'

Some hefty rises since results, large gap to fill. On watch list could go either way close to a breakout.

From yesterday.

Trading update

Card Factory, the UK's leading specialist retailer of greeting cards, dressings and gifts, announces the following trading update for the six months ended 31 July 2018.

Key highlights

· Total group sales growth of +3.2% (H1 FY18: +6.1%)

· Card Factory like-for-like sales -0.2% (H1 FY18: +3.1%), due to weak consumer environment and extreme weather conditions

· Strong seasonal performance continued in Q2 FY19 with a record Father's Day season

· Further expansion of our store network with 25 net new UK stores opened (H1 FY18: 30) - on track for target of c.50 openings for the full year

· Continued momentum in the Republic of Ireland with seven trial stores now open

· Getting Personal sales -8.5% (H1 FY18: +5.0%) in a highly price competitive market

· Continued strong cash generation with net debt comfortably within our policy range

· Expect a return of surplus cash towards the end of FY19 in the range of 5-10p per ordinary share

· Due to the weather impact and continuing uncertainty around the UK consumer environment, the Board expects underlying FY19 EBITDA within the range of £89m - £91m, dependent on the key Q4 trading period

Recent trading performance

During the first half, we delivered strong sales performances in our seasonal ranges, including a record Father's Day for the Group in both volume and value terms. However, with extreme weather conditions impacting high street footfall and continued consumer caution across the UK, like-for-like sales for the Card Factory store network fell by -0.7% (H1 FY18: +3.0%), with a marginal improvement in Q2.

We have continued to expand and improve the range of card and non-card products available on our websites, both personalised and non-personalised, as we target a significant increase in our share of this attractive segment of the market. Including the strong growth delivered by the Card Factory website, with year-on-year growth in traffic, conversion and average order value, like-for-like sales performance of the Card Factory fascia was -0.2% (H1 FY18: +3.1%).

In the first half we opened 25 net new UK stores (H1 FY18: 30) bringing the total UK estate to 940 stores. We remain on track to deliver approximately 50 net new UK stores in the current financial year including a number of retail park stores, which continue to perform well.

We also opened one new store in the Republic of Ireland, meaning we now have a total of seven trial stores in the region. We continue to monitor performance and evolve our proposition as brand awareness improves.

We remain on track with our plan to deliver identified business efficiencies to offset a proportion of the cost pressures arising from wage inflation and other factors.

Trading performance at Getting Personal remains challenging, with increased price competition and rising costs of customer acquisition impacting the business.

Cash returns to shareholders

The Group remains highly cash generative, despite the tough trading environment, driven by our strong operating margins, limited working capital absorption and relatively low capital expenditure requirements.

As at 31 July 2018, before deducting capitalised debt costs, net debt totalled £159.8 million (31 July 2017: £146.0 million, 31 January 2018: £161.3 million), reflecting strong operating cash generation during the period, more than covering payment of the FY18 final dividend (£21.9 million).

It remains the Board's policy to return surplus cash to shareholders. No change is made to the guidance given in the preliminary announcement for FY18, with a further return of surplus cash expected to be made towards the end of the FY19 financial year in the range of 5-10p per ordinary share. We will provide confirmation as to the quantum and timing of the next distribution at the time of our interim results announcement for the six months ended 31 July 2018, due for release on Tuesday 25 September 2018.



Karen Hubbard, Card Factory's Chief Executive Officer, said:

"We continue to experience a weak consumer environment, made all the more challenging by the impact of this year's extreme weather conditions on high street footfall.



"The performance of our seasonal ranges has been strong, with our best ever Father's Day in terms of volume and value, although we recognise there has to be more focus on our Everyday ranges, which have lagged the seasonal performance.



"Taking into account the above, the Board's current expectation is that EBITDA for the year will be in the range of £89m to £91m. Our key Q4 trading period will of course be critical in determining the final result for the year, but we believe we are well positioned to deliver a good performance in our important Christmas trading season."



ENDS

I am biased. I hold some.

=-=-=-=

Can this special divi survive retail chill?
by Graeme Evans from interactive investor | 9th August 2018 12:12
Income stock Card Factory is feeling the trading heat, but will its promise of special dividend later this year survive? Graeme Evans takes a look.

Despite another Card Factory profits warning, the mood among the company's income chasing followers may well be relief that things are not a lot worse.
That’s because Card Factory's promise to pay shareholders a special dividend of between 5p and 10p later in this financial year is still in place, helped by continued strong levels of cash generation. There are also pockets of trading encouragement, not least a decent performance around Father's Day.
Shares still fell 10%, however, to leave the stock some distance from the 225p seen at its May 2014 IPO and the 347p achieved less than year ago.
Liberum thinks the shares are now worth about 195p, having downgraded its target price from 210p in the wake of today's warning - the third time the company has issued an alert on profits in the space of a year.
The broker has cut its earnings per share forecasts by 7% for 2019 through to 2021, continuing a cycle of downgrades. A year ago Liberum was looking for 2019 earnings of £103.9 million, but this is now down 15% to £88.2 million.
That's slightly below the company's new guidance of between £89 million and £91 million, which is still dependent on the key Christmas trading period.
Liberum also suggests that for ever 1% decrease in sales, about £2.5 million of the dividend will need to be paid out of debt.
Card Factory said today net debt at the end of July reduced slightly to £159.8 million, with strong operating cash generation more than covering the payment of the 2018 final dividend of £21.9 million.
Liberum currently forecasts a special dividend of 7.5p and a 2019 yield of 8.3%, but warns that the award could still end up being towards the lower end of the 5p-10p range in the event there’s a further deterioration in earnings.
Card Factory blamed extreme weather conditions and weak consumer confidence for its 0.2% decline in like-for-like sales in the six months to the end of July. Sales at its online business Getting Personal were down by 8.5% due to heavy discounting by rivals.
Despite the uncertain conditions, the company still opened a net 25 new stores in the first half, bringing its total estate to 940. It continues to work towards the addition of 50 sites in this financial year, including a number of retail park stores.
At a time when most other chains are closing outlets, Card Factory has said it hopes to have a "cost-effective estate" of around 1,200 shops.
It also differs from the rest as the only vertically integrated player in its sector. Having an in-house design team, printing facility and central warehousing capacity allows the company to operate with significantly reduced costs compared with rivals.
Fund manager Neil Woodford has been a fan of the company, describing it as a "well-managed, highly competitive and cash generative retailer".
However, today's latest profits warning will increase the pressure on chief executive Karen Hubbard, who has been in the role since February 2016.
She said today:
"Our key Q4 trading period will be critical in determining the final result for the year, but we believe we are well positioned to deliver a good performance in our important Christmas trading season."
-=-=-=

DYOH.

imo, this was always a bad call as a company, for all the obvious reasons

cynic - 12 Dec 2014 16:47 - 7 of 63
loads of card shops fold every year - eg clintons and now lorimers (which may just local to here) - as it's low value (avr below £1.00 here) albeit high profit margin, with main sales being very seasonal

fewer and fewer cards are now being sold - ask your local postie
in addition, there's the advent of on-line cards like moonpig and a number of others


finally ....
Massive queue of people. Waited 10 mins.
customers will not tolerate this for long


personally, i think this is one to avoid

Half Year report http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=6140334

Teleios Capital Partners LLC make a 5% entry.

Trading statement https://www.moneyam.com/action/nav/news?epic=CARD

Trading Statement Thursday 10th.

if you look back perhaps as little as a decade, families used to receive and send dozens of christmas and other occasion cards

this has now reduced to a dribble and falling, so why would one buy into this company?

Trading statement https://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=6272183

Norges Bank add https://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=6280823