By Abigail Townsend
Date: Thursday 27 Jun 2024
LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Shares in Moonpig Group sparked on Thursday, after the online greeting card retailer posted a jump in annual sales and profits.
Revenues in the year to 30 April came in at £341.1m, up 6.6%, while adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rose 13.5% at £95.5m.
Pre-tax profits were ahead nearly 33%, at £46.4m.
The group attributed the growth to strong trading at its core Moonpig brand - which saw revenues rise 8.2% - an improved gross margin rate and an above-forecast performance from its recently introduced subscription service.
Nickyl Raithatha, chief executive, said trading had also strengthened across peak trading periods in the second half.
"This has been driven by our multi-year investments in technology and innovation, which continue to foster extraordinary customer loyalty," he continued.
"The Moonpig Plus subscription scheme has exceeded our expectations, passing the milestone of half a million members within one year."
Looking to the current year, Moonpig said trading since the start of the year had been in line with expectations.
It continued: "In the context of the current macroeconomic environment, we expect 2025 full year revenue growth, after adjusting for temporarily higher breakage on experience vouchers in 2024, at a mid to high single digit percentage rate, underpinned by growth in orders at the Moonpig brand."
As at 0915 BST, shares in the FTSE 250 firm - which also owns Dutch brand Greetz, Red Letter Days and Buyagift - were up 9% at 173p.