City round up: Character group; Together Finance

Character Group, the Oldham-based toys retailer, says it expects full year profits to be in line with current market expectations, in a trading update today (1 October 2024).

In a statement to the stock market this morning the company said that whilst the market has continued to experience external challenging conditions, such as the higher cost of living, the surge in freight costs and shipping delays due to reduced capacity, the Group has continued to perform well.

“Initial sales of products for the Christmas ’24 season are showing encouraging signs, especially new introductions. Previews of our 2025 new ranges are also going well.

“The Group continues to have a solid balance sheet with a healthy cash balance.”

 Final results for the year are scheduled to be released in December 2024.

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Chris Adams, Together CFO

Together Financial Services has promoted Chris Adams to Chief Financial Officer, which will see him join the Group’s Board of Directors with immediate effect.

He joined Together in 2017, as Head of Financial Reporting before being promoted to Group Financial Controller, then Interim Finance Director in 2020 and Group Finance Director in 2021. He joined Together from Co-op Bank, where he was Treasury Risk Manager. Earlier in his career, Chris qualified as a chartered accountant at Deloitte, where he gained experience in financial services audit, M&A and securitisations in both the UK and Australia.

Henry Moser, Executive Vice Chairman and Founder of Together added: “Chris’ promotion to CFO is testament to the value he has added during his time with Together. I look forward to working with him in his new role.”

Chris Adams said: “Together has a special culture that provides opportunities to both customers and colleagues to realise their ambitions.  I am really excited to be taking on this new role at Together and look forward to contributing to the next stage of the Group’s growth journey.”