Hampers and vouchers provider upbeat

PARK Group, the Birkenhead-based Christmas hampers to prepaid gift card provider, says the improving economy and higher consumer confidence levels will boost prospects this year.

In an update on trading for the financial year ended March 31, Park said it had begun to see an improvement in trading conditions in the second half, which has continued.

It said it expects its results, which will be published on June 10, will be in line with market expectations, which see annual profits coming in between £9.3m and £9.7m.

Looking ahead to next Christmas, the company said: “While the improvement in consumer confidence came too late to impact billings for Christmas 2013, the early signs for Christmas 2014 are encouraging. Park’s UK order book is currently 10% above last year’s level, with orders in Ireland up over 3%.

The group said its online trading business, highstreetvouchers.com, had continued to grow strongly. Orders are up 27% year-on-year.