Card Factory is the UK's largest specialist card retailer, with 1,117 shops in the UK and Ireland, and it is trying to become a wider celebrations business with gifts, party goods, online and wholesale. Revenue grew from £511m to £583m in the two years to January 2026, but adjusted profit fell to £56m from £66m after a weak Christmas 2025, and the shares dropped from about 98p to 68p in December 2025.
Cards at a low price, now with gifts, parties and wholesale
Card Factory sells greeting cards, gifts and celebration essentials such as wrap and balloons. It calls itself the UK's leading specialist retailer in the category. Shops are the core: 1,117 across the UK and Republic of Ireland at January 2026. The company says its 24 million store customers are a base for its online business.
Three other arms sit alongside the shops. Online means cardfactory.co.uk and Funky Pigeon, a personalised-card site bought in 2025. Wholesale means supplying Aldi across the UK and Ireland, The Reject Shop in Australia, Garlanna in Ireland, Garven in North America and SA Greetings. The company puts the UK celebration occasions market at £14.9bn and wants a bigger share of what customers spend around each occasion. 29 Sep 2026 28 Apr 2026 30 Sep 2025
Mending the balance sheet, then paying dividends again
In the year to January 2024 revenue rose 10.3% to £511m. Shop like-for-like sales, which strip out new openings, grew 7.7%, helped by targeted price rises and a move into gifts. Net debt fell to £34m. The company refinanced with a £125m credit facility and restarted dividends at 4.5p.
The April 2024 results set medium-term ambitions of £650m of sales, 14% pre-tax profit margins and 90 net new stores by the end of FY27. The company said they were unchanged in September 2024. The latest reports do not restate the sales and margin figures. They speak instead of mid-to-high single-digit annual profit growth. 30 Apr 2024 16 Jan 2024 24 Sep 2024
Buying its way into Ireland, the US and online
Card Factory bought Garlanna in Ireland in September 2024 and Garven in the US for $25m in December 2024. It also signed a multi-year deal to be Aldi's everyday card supplier and a US wholesale deal covering over 1,100 stores. Revenue reached £543m in FY25 and adjusted profit £66m. Acquisitions and dividends took £43m of cash and net debt rose to £59m.
In July 2025 it agreed to buy Funky Pigeon from WH Smith for £24m, completed in August. That made it the second-largest online card and attached-gift seller in the UK. It expects more than £5m a year in savings, achieved by the end of FY27 and flowing from FY28. It expects the deal to add to earnings in FY27. The shares ended October 2025 at 104p, against 95p a year earlier. 24 Sep 2024 5 Dec 2024 7 May 2025 29 Jul 2025 15 Aug 2025
A soft Christmas breaks the profit promise
In January 2025 management said it expected mid-to-high single-digit profit growth in FY26. It repeated this in September 2025. On 12 December 2025 it cut its view to £55m–£60m of adjusted profit, citing weak consumer spending and lower store sales. The shares fell from 98p at end-November to 68p at end-December.
Christmas shop like-for-likes came in 1.2% lower. Full-year adjusted profit was £56m, down 15%, while the efficiency programme saved £21m. The CEO said: "Softer high street footfall in the second half, particularly during our peak trading period, impacted full-year performance, with Adjusted PBT being delivered in line with our revised guidance." The company also launched a £15m buyback in April 2026. 14 Jan 2025 30 Sep 2025 12 Dec 2025 28 Jan 2026 28 Apr 2026
“Softer high street footfall in the second half, particularly during our peak trading period, impacted full-year performance, with Adjusted PBT being delivered in line with our revised guidance.” 28 Apr 2026
Cash held up, profit did not
Two forces pulled against each other. Sales kept growing, helped by new shops and acquisitions. Profit depended on shop traffic in the Christmas quarter and on cost savings keeping pace with wage and other inflation. In FY26 the savings did not fully cover a footfall shortfall.
Cash was steadier than profit. Free cash flow was £41m in FY26, up from £29m. Net debt still rose to £68m after the Funky Pigeon purchase, dividends and buybacks. Profit growth guidance set in January 2025 was missed within a year. 28 Apr 2026 12 Dec 2025 7 May 2025
Same CEO, new chair of the board's senior independents, directors buying after the fall
Darcy Willson-Rymer is chief executive and Matthias Seeger finance chief. Pamela Powell became Senior Non-Executive Director in June 2024 when Roger Whiteside stepped down after six years. Nathan Lane left the board in July 2024.
After the December 2025 profit warning, the CEO, CFO and two non-executive directors bought shares at around 70p. On the record, the team met guidance for FY24 and FY25 and missed it for FY26. Aberforth Partners raised its holding from 6.7% to 15.1% between February and October 2026. The Wellcome Trust went from 4.1% to nil by September 2026. 5 Jun 2024 24 Jul 2024 17 Dec 2025 22 Dec 2025 17 Feb 2026 23 Feb 2026 30 Sep 2026
Sales up, shop sales down, cash positive
In the half to July 2026 revenue rose 5.3% to £261m, mainly because Funky Pigeon was included. Adjusted profit slipped to £12.7m from £13.2m. Shop like-for-like sales fell 2.0% as UK consumer confidence stayed weak and the summer was hot. Ireland grew strongly, with like-for-likes up 5.6%, and wholesale sales rose 13.6%.
Adjusted free cash flow was £0.8m, against an outflow of £6.3m a year earlier. Net debt was £87m, 1.1 times earnings against a below-1.5x target. The interim dividend is 1.4p. The £15m buyback is 83% done, with a £3m buyback to treasury planned for staff share schemes. The shares closed at 84.9p on 9 October 2026, up from 67.1p at end-June. 29 Sep 2026
A Christmas-weighted second half
The board says it is confident of meeting FY27 adjusted profit expectations. Company-compiled forecasts on 28 September 2026 ranged from £54m to £59m, averaging £56.7m. As usual, profit falls mostly in the second half. Management said UK shop like-for-likes had improved since the half year and turned positive in recent weeks. It plans a wider Christmas range, more targeted price cuts and a loyalty scheme by the end of FY27.
Savings programmes are meant to offset inflation of 3% to 4%, and about 40% was delivered in the first half. Longer term, it targets mid-to-high single-digit annual profit growth and mid-single-digit sales growth, first set in May 2025. It also aims for 1–2% of the addressable North American card market by the end of the decade. The company said in April 2026 that Middle East conflict could raise freight and energy costs, and that currency needs were fully hedged and energy 80% hedged for FY27. 29 Sep 2026 28 Apr 2026 29 Jul 2025 7 May 2025
“We have been encouraged by trading since the half year, with UK store Like-for-likes improving from H1 levels and returning to positive growth in recent weeks.” 29 Sep 2026
Written by AI from Card Factory's own announcements since Oct 2023 · every paragraph links to its sources