Clinton Cards was today pinning its hopes on department store chain Debenhams for a prosperous Christmas after revealing a spark in first-half sales.
The card and gift wrapping retailer has 45 concessions in Debenhams stores but aims to increase this to 93 in time for the crucial season.
It will start selling festive cards and wrapping paper across the concessions from October to December.
However, the group is also expanding its own chain of outlets and said it was on track to have around 690 stores by Christmas.
It is focusing on modernising and extending existing sites as well increasing total trading space.
In addition, Clinton has 35 stand alone calendar shops and it is seeking to increase this to around 80 sites in the second half.
Predominately situated in shopping centres, the stores will be open from October through to January.
The second half is a crucial one for Clinton, which suffered last year from a poor performance over the festive period.
But chairman Don Lewin said underlying sales in the seven weeks to 15 September had sparked 3.7% and he remained upbeat for the coming months.
He said: “Our stores are now preparing for the all-important Christmas period.
“Our progress in the first half gives the board confidence in the future and I look forward to reporting further progress for the group in the second half.”
The update came as Clinton posted a 5.8% increase in turnover for the six months to 28 July, to £130.9m.
Like-for-like sales across 596 shops were up 4.3% and the group was able to return to profitability after last year’s slide in the red.
Pre-tax profits came at £1.1m compared to pre-tax losses last year of £810,000.
Shareholders will receive an interim dividend of 1.61p, a hefty 20.1% hike on last year’s payout.
EGi News 24/09/02
