Findel makes solid start
FINDEL, the home shopping and education sector supplier, says it has made a “solid start” to the year.
The Tameside-based company said Express Gifts, its largest division, is performing strongly, while there are signs that its efforts to improve its struggling education business are paying off.
It said: “Total sales in the first 17 weeks (to July 24) are up by 1.9%. The early weeks of the financial year are relatively quiet periods for Express Gifts and Kitbag, although they form part of the peak “back to school” ordering period for Findel Education.”
Accrington-based Express Gifts, has seen product sales growth of 7.7% for the year to date although at a slightly lower gross margin rate than in the equivalent weeks of FY15 due to product mix.
Findel Education has seen its year to date sales decline by 4.6% in difficult market conditions. This is an improvement on the 9.2% fall seen in the final quarter of last year, although the current period has benefited from favourable year-on-year timing effects on the Sainsbury’s Active Kids Scheme.
The company’s chairman David Sugden said: “We are continuing to implement a series of actions to turnaround the performance of this business.”
In Kitbag, which is run out of Chadderon near Oldham, the company said adverse timing differences caused by the later launch of certain clubs’ new season replica kits, together with a comparative period that included last year’s FIFA World Cup, has led to Kitbag’s sales being 5.6% behind the prior year. Adjusting for these factors would show sales moderately ahead.
Sugden added: “The early weeks of the year have seen overall trading in line with expectations with Express Gifts continuing to provide the majority of both the group’s profit and its growth in profitability, with support and improving cash generation coming from Findel Education and Kitbag.”
