UK's Moonpig expects first-half revenue growth as demand holds up
By Radhika Anilkumar
(Reuters) - Moonpig Group on Thursday forecast low single-digit revenue growth for the first half of its financial year as the UK-based online greeting card retailer bets on resilient demand.
The company's update sent its shares up as much as 7% in morning trade.
Moonpig, which has a more than 70% market share in the UK, added that it expects revenue growth at a mid to high single-digit rate for the full year with all its brands returning to growth in the second half, despite an uncertain economic environment.
The online greeting card market usually sees growth weighted towards the second half of its fiscal year which includes Christmas, Valentine's Day and Mother's Day in the UK.
As customers continue to grapple with a cost of living crisis, the card market has been resilient in the past year, CEO Nickyl Raithatha said in an interview with Reuters, but added that people are cutting back.
"We did see customers trading down, buying slightly less expensive gifts. So maybe that would be buying a 15 pound ($18.97) bar of chocolate instead of a 20 pound bottle of wine."
The company on Thursday reported a 12.4% jump in adjusted core profit for the year ended April 30 to 84.2 million pounds.
This was in line with the 83.7 million expected by analysts, according to a company-compiled consensus.
"It’s clear that, even when money is tight, people still insist on sending a card to friends and loved ones on birthdays and special occasions," Adam Vettese, analyst at trading and investment platform eToro, said in a note.
Shares in Moonpig rose 7% before paring some gains and were up 4% at 143.9 pence at 0840 GMT.
($1 = 0.7909 pounds)
(Reporting by Radhika Anilkumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips, Rashmi Aich and Susan Fenton)
