Wakefield-based greeting card and gift retailer Card Factory said its 2025 revenue rose 7.4% to £582.7 million “supported by positive contributions from acquired businesses.”
However, profit before tax fell 31.5% to £43.9 million amid “lower footfall and consequently fewer transactions” in its UK stores.
Dividend per share rose 4.2% to 5p, and Card Factory said it plans to commence a £15 million share buyback programme.
Card Factory chief financial officer Matthias Seeger said: ” …financial performance in our UK stores was impacted by a challenging consumer environment, particularly in the important final quarter, which impacted our overall profitability due to lower footfall and consequently fewer transactions.
“This meant we were unable to leverage the benefit of operational gearing over Christmas to offset inflationary impacts to the extent previously expected, and profitability was further impacted by associated inventory provisions and impairment charges related to stores.
“cardfactory remains a highly profitable, cash-generative business and we remain committed to our policy to deliver a sustainable and progressive dividend to shareholders. Since reinstating dividends in FY24, we have returned 73% of the free cash we have generated, to shareholders, whilst making strategic acquisitions and maintaining a strong balance sheet. All this, despite absorbing an estimated £60m+ of inflation headwinds over the same three year period.
“The environment in which we operate, like many businesses, remains uncertain driven by external factors and we are not immune to the broader effects of the current conflict in the Middle East. However, the steps we have taken over the last three years to make our business more efficient and more resilient put us in a better position to navigate the current period of macroeconomic and geopolitical instability.
“In this context, our value credentials across cards, gifts and celebration essentials have never been more important and we remain focused on helping our customers celebrate all of life’s moments.
“We remain confident in our strategy to reach more customers in more locations across all of our channels and growing our share of their overall celebration spend as we continue to target mid-to-high single-digit percentage Adjusted PBT growth per annum across the medium term.”
Card Factory CEO Darcy Willson-Rymer said: “Despite a challenging consumer backdrop in FY26, we continued to execute our strategy to transform cardfactory into a global celebrations group, underpinned by targeted investment and disciplined cost management. We are encouraged by the positive contributions of our acquired businesses, with the acquisition of Funky Pigeon accelerating our digital capabilities and strengthening our platform for future online growth.
“Softer high street footfall in the second half, particularly during our peak trading period, impacted full-year performance, with Adjusted PBT being delivered in line with our revised guidance. The Group remains highly cash generative, and our ‘Simplify & Scale’ efficiency and productivity programme will continue to help mitigate inflationary headwinds. We remain committed to disciplined capital allocation and progressive shareholder returns, which is reflected in the proposed final dividend and a commitment to commence a £15 million share buyback programme.
“Looking ahead, as widely documented, the external environment remains uncertain. We have robust plans in place for FY27 to deliver further progress against our strategic priorities and medium-term ambitions. By remaining focused on developing our strong value and quality offer, we will continue to help our customers celebrate life’s moments.”