Retailer Card Factory said online sales at its main website have more than tripled since the coronavirus lockdown forced the closure of all its stores, as it confirmed plans to reopen 10% of its shops from around June 15.
The chain said like-for-like sales at cardfactory.co.uk have surged 302% since lockdown and are 153% higher in its financial year so far, with sales at gettingpersonal.co.uk up 68% since lockdown.
But the firm – which has furloughed more than 90% of its staff – cancelled its 2019-20 final shareholder dividend payout and said it does not expect to pay one for the current year due to the impact of Covid-19, while it said 2019-20 results were “significantly impacted by a very challenging market”.
It posted an 11.8% drop in underlying pre-tax profits to £67.2 million for the year to January 31, with like-for-like sales at Card Factory down 0.5%.
Karen Hubbard, chief executive at Card Factory, said: “Before the impact of Covid-19, we had made a satisfactory start to the year.
“In the first major season of the year, Valentine’s Day, we achieved our fourth consecutive year of record sales growth in both volume and value.
“However, the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted trading and, given the uncertain economic backdrop, we are unable to provide financial guidance for 2020-21.”
