Christmas sales sparkle at Findel

Multi channel retailer Findel said second half sales rose 4.5% after a stellar performance from its largest business Express Gifts over the Christmas period.

The home shopping, education supplies and healthcare markets company, said sales at Express Gifts for the 15 weeks to January 17 jumped 11.1% from the previous year, its strongest performance in four years.

The group also saw a 5.4% increase in active customer numbers over the last 12 months.

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"We expect this growth in both sales and customer numbers to result in the delivery of increased total cash margin and a strong operating profit performance for the year," Findel said in a statement.

Findel, which sells cleaning products brand Kleeneze, reiterated that it expects to deliver improved results in the second half from the same period a year earlier.

"Overall, we are encouraged by the progress we are making in a number of areas, building on a strong performance from our largest business, Express Gifts, in a difficult economic and retail environment. We do not anticipate this environment becoming easier. We remain focused on implementing our three year Full Potential plan," it said.

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