Card Factory Share Discussion Threads

[mortimer7] 18/10/2016 15:26

They will use their bank borrowing facility (£200 million revolving credit facility).

[rolo7] 27/9/2016 23:28

How are card going to pay the 51+million dividend when they only had 3million ish cash end of July? Confused.

[hawaly] 27/9/2016 16:18

Seemingly uncharacteristic share price action today - up 7.2% at one stage then 1.2% - still moving around a lot.

[aishah] 27/9/2016 08:48

Peel Hunt reiterates BUY and 500p target.

[aishah] 27/9/2016 08:27

Card Factory has reported a solid set of interim results although "softer footfall" led to slightly lower than normal sales growth from its stores.

In the six months to 31 July 2016, Card Factory revenues rose 4.8 per cent to £169.2m while like-for-like sales increased by 0.2 per cent.

Softer footfall resulted in lower than normal sales growth from stores, although there was strong growth in sales from the new Card Factory website.

At the underlying level, EBITDA climbed by 5.1 per cent to £34.2m and profit before tax was up from £25.7m to £27.6m.

Card Factory opened 34 net new stores in the period, bringing its total estate to 848. A further six net new stores have opened since 31 July, including at the Trafford Centre in Manchester.

The business said it had a strong pipeline of further new store opportunities and was on track for approximately 50 net new openings by the year-end.

"We have delivered a solid set of interim results with further growth in both revenue and profit, albeit with softer footfall resulting in slightly lower than normal sales growth from our stores," said chief executive Karen Hubbard.

"We remain highly cash generative and are pleased to be announcing another special dividend of 15 pence per share. Together with the interim dividend, this means we will have returned over £160m to shareholders since IPO just over two years ago.

"We remain the clear leaders in our market, with a strong value proposition, a unique vertically integrated operating model, significant scale advantages, and industry-leading margins. The potential for further growth - through like-for-like sales growth, further store roll-out and the full exploitation of our online channels - is exciting."

Hubbard, who joined the company in April, added that trading in recent weeks has been similar to the trends seen in the first half, "with encouraging continued growth in average spend".

"We approach the important final quarter with confidence in the quality and value of our offer, including our new Christmas ranges, and remain confident of delivering full year underlying profit before tax within the range of expectations."

insidermedia.com

[silverfern] 27/9/2016 07:27

3total of nearly 18p div

[spoole5] 18/9/2016 18:11

Almost completely recovered from the irrational sell off now and looking forward to interims next week where we will get news of special divi.

[aishah] 14/9/2016 12:07

Yes, market probably realising that some cost pressure can be passed on as CARD have room in their pricing

[silverfern] 08/9/2016 15:50

recovery going on ahead of next annoucements

[paleje] 19/8/2016 08:33

Footfall seemed to grab peoples attention but it was probably a blip and the July retail figures just out are well up on 2015 so maybe that little blip was nothing to worry about.

[smokybenchod] 18/8/2016 09:06

not sure you can always relate special divy to a company not worried about performance - e.g. M&S

[spoole5] 15/8/2016 17:35

But their reasons for adding haven't changed, short term fluctuations in footfall are par for the course in retail. Special divi with the interims isn't the sign of a company worried about performance.

[johnv] 15/8/2016 09:30

Yes, they added before the update, would they have added after it?, perhaps not.

[aishah] 15/8/2016 09:20

TMI added CARD to their Portfolio citing a divi yield of 7.7% and huge cash flows.

[paleje] 12/8/2016 08:10

So Shareprophets tip sheet issued their article, it wasn't much, only reflecting what we already know:

And in today's Times Tempus gave a tepid summary with no advice.

[spoole5] 11/8/2016 15:57

So 3rd eye, do you have a short position to disclose?

[3rd eye] 11/8/2016 15:13

Sources on twitter say a tip sheet is going to publish a big SELL on this tomorrow maybe tonight.

Guess who. LOL.

[spoole5] 11/8/2016 13:33

Just topped up at 2.95, more special divis on the way.

[aishah] 11/8/2016 13:15

Investec reiterate BUY and 395p target
Peel Hunt reiterate BUY and 500p target

[market sniper3] 11/8/2016 12:14

I see 285p here this afternoon and then a big fall tomorrow when the daily press report overnight.

[3rd eye] 11/8/2016 10:22

Card Factory shares drop after 'softer' start to year

Lauren Davidson
24 MAY 2016 • 8:59AM
Shares in Card Factory fell by 6pc after the greeting cards and gifts retailer posted a slowdown in growth for the first quarter amid declining footfall.

Revenues in the three months to April 30 increased by 6.5pc, compared to the same period last year when it posted a sales increase of 7.5pc.

The company attributed the "softer" growth to an overall reduction in footfall, which offset a continuing rise in average spend per customer.

Online sales grew "in excess of" 10pc in the three months to April 30.

"Following our record performance last year, we have had a reasonable start to the year," said Karen Hubbard, chief executive, who joined the company earlier this year from discount retailer B&M.

"Whilst not completely immune to the weaker consumer confidence seen in 2016, the market for greetings cards in the UK has proven highly resilient in the past and our unrivalled value offer will continue to appeal to a broad range of customers.

"We remain confident of making further progress this year as we continue to expand our store portfolio and further improve our in store and online proposition. Overall, our expectations for the year remain unchanged."

The company pointed to a "strong pipeline of new store opportunities" with plans to add 50 shops to its estate this year after opening 20 net new locations in the first quarter.

There are now 834 Card Factory shops in the UK.

The FTSE 250 retailer reiterated its target of hitting full-year like-for-like sales growth of between 1.4pc and 3.2pc.

The Telegraph

[3rd eye] 11/8/2016 09:46

FOOTFALL CHALLENGES SLOW CARD FACTORY’S SALES
11th Aug 2016


Sales growth has slowed at Card Factory, the retailer of greeting cards with 850 shops, amid "challenging" conditions on the high street and "softer" footfall patterns.

The company said revenues increased by 4.8 per cent in the six months to 31 July 2016, although this growth was slower than the 8 per cent achieved in the same period last year.

It added weekly sales patterns were impacted by "variability" in retail footfall, with the trend continuing both in the lead up to and following the EU referendum.

"As highlighted in our Q1 announcement, the retail environment in the first half has been challenging and, as widely reported, footfall patterns in the first half have generally been soft," said recently appointed chief executive Karen Hubbard.

"Card Factory is not immune to these wider factors and our sales growth over the period was lower than our normal levels as a result.

"It is too early to assess the precise impact on overall consumer sentiment and retail footfall from the result of the EU referendum.

"However, we enter the second half with confidence in the quality and value of our offer, including our new Christmas range, and we will target improved sales growth in the second half."

Like-for-like sales growth for Wakefield-headquartered Card Factory increased by 0.2 per cent during the first-half, helped by a strong performance online.

The retailer also opened 34 net new stores, bringing its total estate to 848 outlets. It said it remains on track to open 50 net new stores in the current financial year, all of which should be trading before the busy Christmas season.

"Despite the near term challenges, Card Factory remains the clear market leader in the robust and resilient greetings card market with a strong value proposition, a unique vertically integrated operating model, significant scale advantages, superior margin structure and a strong management team," said Hubbard.

"We remain as convinced as ever of the strong growth prospects for the business, and of our ability to deliver strong shareholder returns over the medium term. We are confident of delivering full year underlying profit before tax within the range of analysts' current expectations."

[3rd eye] 11/8/2016 09:39

Well this broker saw the problems coming up, it will be interesting to see what they say in the next few days on an update......

05 Jul 16 Liberum Capital Hold 301.45 450.00 340.00 Downgrades

my bet is they will further downgrade the share price target.

[paleje] 11/8/2016 09:30

Good point and others may have to increase too so differential remains. If they reach 285 I think I'll be adding, I'd like greater clarity going forward but in an uncertain UK at the moment not many co's are able to provide that. If things get tight and 'feelbad' sentiment takes charge, value chains like B&M, Poundland, Card Factory should all benefit.