Mixed messages: Card Factory quarterly trading update brings good and bad news

Card Factory, which issued a profit warning in January, said yesterday that it was performing robustly in “a tough retail environment”. The company said sales at Getting Personal, the online gifts retailer it acquired in 2011, were “disappointing”, adding that the business has been hit by heavy discounting in the market. On the financial front, the group noted in a first-quarter trading update that it remains “highly cash generative, driven by its strong operating margins, limited working capital absorption and relatively low capital expenditure requirements”.