# Festive cheer boosts profit outlook for UK’s Card Factory Author: Pal Sinha, Barnali Author URL: https://financedigest.com/author/pal-sinha-barnali Published: 2023-01-10 Category: NEWS Category URL: https://financedigest.com/category/news Meta Title: Card Factory raises full-year earnings forecast after strong Christmas sales Meta Description: Card Factory raises earnings outlook as high street sales spike during holiday season, despite Royal Mail strikes affecting online sales. Get the latest update URL: https://financedigest.com/festive-cheer-boosts-profit-outlook-for-uks-card-factoryhtml ![undefined](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cm5qst7v3003gwirgwqtxn8i8/images/2023-01-10t074215z1lynxmpej09069rtroptp4card-factory-results-1736814597753-compressed.jpg) By Aby Jose Koilparambil (Reuters) – UK greeting cards retailer Card Factory lifted its full-year earnings forecast on Tuesday after people flocked to its high street stores to buy Christmas cards as Royal Mail strikes deterred online sales. Shares of the FTSE SmallCap firm rose as much as 9.2% to 95 pence, their highest level since May 2021. The upbeat forecast from Card Factory [comes after clothing retailer Next](https://www.financedigest.com/whats-coming-next-in-the-clearing-and-settlement-world.html "What’s coming next in the clearing and settlement world?") last week trumped Christmas sales forecasts, signalling British consumers had not cut back heavily on spending as feared in the wake of a cost-of-living crisis. Greeting card and gift retailers also faced [shipment challenges during the crucial Christmas and New Year trading period on the back of long-drawn strikes at postal and parcel firm](https://www.financedigest.com/sp-global-acquires-firm-to-bolster-capability-to-track-commodity-shipments.html "S&P Global acquires firm to bolster capability to track commodity shipments") Royal Mail. This is another very impressive update highlighting the positive [momentum in the business as the post-COVID recovery driven](https://www.financedigest.com/impact-com-ends-2022-with-strong-momentum-driven-by-client-and-agency-partner-growth.html "impact.com Ends 2022 with Strong Momentum Driven by Client and Agency Partner Growth") by management’s self-help initiatives and shoppers returning to stores,” Liberum analysts said in a note. New initiatives that helped [boost sales](https://www.financedigest.com/mercedes-posts-rise-in-q1-sales-boosted-by-evs-premium-cars.html "Mercedes posts rise in Q1 sales boosted by EVs, premium cars") included the launch of a trial click and collect service in September. Card Factory said it expects core earnings to be at least 106 [million pounds](https://www.financedigest.com/uk-gives-bbc-world-service-20-million-pounds-to-support-english-language-broadcasting.html "UK gives BBC World Service 20 million pounds to support English language broadcasting") ($128.8 million) for the year ending Jan. 31, compared with analysts’ current consensus of 96.9 [million pounds](https://www.financedigest.com/incentive-qas-expands-retail-portfolio-with-million-pound-shopping-centre-contract.html "Incentive QAS Expands Retail Portfolio With Million Pound Shopping Centre Contract"). In November the company had said it expected [full year earnings to be at least 96 million](https://www.financedigest.com/sainsburys-pays-524-million-for-full-ownership-of-store-investment-vehicles.html "Sainsbury’s pays 4 million for full ownership of store investment vehicles") pounds. [Sales jumped](https://www.financedigest.com/indias-tata-motors-jumps-to-a-7-month-high-on-strong-q4-jlr-sales.html "India’s Tata Motors jumps to a 7-month high on strong Q4 JLR sales") more than 28% to 432.6 million pounds in the 11 months ended Dec. 31, while like-for-like store revenue grew 7%, helped by [strong Christmas trading](https://www.financedigest.com/aldi-uk-to-recruit-6000-after-strong-christmas-trading.html "Aldi UK to recruit 6,000 after strong Christmas trading"). The retailer said the return of customers to high [street stores and the impact of strikes at Royal Mail saw online](https://www.financedigest.com/the-high-street-is-dead-long-live-online-shopping.html "The high street is dead – long live online shopping! ") sales fall 27.6% year-on-year, but were more than 85% higher compared to pre-pandemic levels. Shares in the Wakefield, UK-headquartered company had risen by [nearly a third last year](https://www.financedigest.com/cepsa-to-nearly-double-investments-over-next-3-years-as-profit-soars.html "Cepsa to nearly double investments over next 3 years as profit soars"). Card Factory said it had continued to successfully manage inflationary pressures and had hedged energy costs until September [next year](https://www.financedigest.com/eu-could-face-gas-shortage-next-year-iea-warns.html "EU could face gas shortage next year, IEA warns"). In contrast, [Card Factory’s bigger rival Moonpig last month flagged Britons were buying](https://www.financedigest.com/over-half-of-britons-say-loyalty-cards-encourage-them-to-buy-a-product-niq.html "Over half of Britons say loyalty cards encourage them to buy a product – NIQ") cheaper gifts amid the cost-of-living crunch and cut its annual revenue forecast. ($1 = 0.8227 pounds) (Reporting by Radhika Anilkumar and Aby Jose Koilparambil in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D’Souza, Subhranshu Sahu and Susan Fenton) --- This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more. ---