Gift and education divisions sparkle for Findel

HOME shopping and educational supplies group Findel continued to show progress in its turnaround as it reported strong sales growth in its largest two divisions.

The group, based in Hyde with operations across the region, said the performance of Express Gifts and Findel Education and  its lower borrowings, give confidence for the future. It expects to meet analysts’ expectations for full-year profits to come in between £22m and £22.5m.

Findel said sales for the full year to March 28 are 5% up on the previous year, while crucially both operating profit and profit before tax are “substantially” ahead of the 2013 figure. Operating margins in the full year will increase from 4.6% to around 6%.

While Express Gifts, which is run out of Accrington, and the Hyde-based education business were the star performers, the group’s other operations, door-to-door homewares seller Kleeneze and online sports retailer Kitbag are still proving to be a challenge, and have taken longer than expected to improve.

While Express Gifts sales are up 9.7% and Education Supplies 6.2% ahead, Kleeneze’s sales in the year are down 5.4%  and Chadderton-based Kitbag’s by 4.5%.

The group’s financial position has improved too. Net debt at 28th March was approximately £207m, some £18m below last year, and core net debt some £23m lower at £97m.

Findel, which will report its full-year figureson June 4, said: “Overall the board continues to be very encouraged by the group’s progress and the significant recovery in the prospects over the last three years.”