Online retailer on course ahead of interims announcement

Hyde-based online value retailer Findel says activity has picked up ahead of the important ‘Black Friday’ trading period and Christmas business, in a trading update today.

The company, which is due to announce its interim results on November 28, said both its business divisions are making progress.

Express Gifts, trading as ‘Studio’, is the group’s largest business and grew revenue by 8% in the first 28 weeks of the year.

While growth in the second quarter was slower than the first, Findel said it has seen a much stronger response from customers in recent weeks as it starts the peak trading period ahead of Black Friday and the Christmas period.

It said: “Our expectations for full-year progress on revenue, margin and profit remain unchanged.”

The education division has continued to make good progress with its operational turnaround.

Its core UK customer base has grown by 4% over the past year, driven by its online value proposition which has seen online ordering levels rise from around 20% in September 2017 to more than 55% now.

The group said: “Our full-year profit expectations for both education, and the group as a whole, remain unchanged.”

Core net debt for the group at the end of September 2018 was around £81m, which was about £9m lower than September 2017, and Findel’s expectations for net debt at the year-end remain unchanged.

In June this year the group announced results for the year to March 30, which revealed a rise in group revenues of 4.8% to £479m and a 15.4% jump in adjusted operating profits of £36m.

A £22.1m pre-tax profit compared with a pre-tax loss of £59.4m the previous year.