Character Group PLC Trading Update (6709U)
January 20 2017 - 1:00AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMCCT
RNS Number : 6709U
Character Group PLC
20 January 2017
Prior to its release, certain of the information contained in
this announcement was considered by the Company to be inside
information, for the purposes of Article 7 of EU Market Abuse
Regulation 596/2014.
The Character Group plc
Designers, developers and international distributor of toys,
games and giftware
("Company", "Group" or "Character")
Trading update
London: Friday, 20 January 2017: The Character Group plc (AIM:
CCT), which holds its Annual General Meeting today, publishes the
following update ahead of the Meeting:
As we highlighted in the 2016 Annual Report, we continue to
develop our strong and diverse portfolio of 'in-demand' products.
This, in conjunction with our strengthening financial position,
underpins our corporate profile and reputation within the industry
as the UK's leading independent toy company.
Whilst we are confident that the market expectation for the 2017
financial year shall be achieved, we expect the results for the
first half to be lower than those reported in the comparative
period last year. In the four months to December 2016, sales were
marginally lower than the same period last year and as expected UK
gross margin was adversely affected by the devaluation of sterling.
The steps taken to mitigate the reduction in margin are currently
starting to take effect and will be fully implemented in the second
half. We are expecting both our international and domestic sales to
grow in the remainder of the financial year.
Our balance sheet, including cash position continues to
strengthen considerably; we shall maintain our progressive dividend
policy.
The ongoing performance of our established cornerstone brands,
which includes Peppa Pig, Little Live Pets, Teletubbies, Minecraft,
Fireman Sam, Scooby Doo and Stretch Armstrong, remains very
encouraging. The reaction to our 2017 product ranges and marketing
plans has been excellent; we are confident that the new season's
offering will deliver in terms of demand and sales at consumer
level across both our UK and international markets.
Once again, as part of our domestic and international marketing
programmes, Character will be exhibiting at The London Toy Fair
2017, which is being held at Kensington Olympia and starts on
Tuesday, 24 January. Over the three-day Expo, we will officially
unveil to the trade our new season's portfolio.
http://www.btha.co.uk/toy-fair/2017.
In summary, the Board remains confident about the future and we
shall provide an update in April, when the half-year financial
results for the period ending 28 February 2017 are released.
Enquiries:
The Character Group plc
Jon Diver, Joint Managing Director
Kiran Shah, Joint Managing Director
Mark Dowding, Group Finance Director
Office: +44 (0) 208 329 3377
Mobile: +44 (0) 7831 802219 (JD)
Mobile: +44 (0) 7956 278522 (KS)
Mobile: +44(0)7967185269 (MD)
Email: info@charactergroup.plc.uk
FTSE sector: leisure:
FTSE AIM All-share: symbol: CCT.L:
Market cap: GBP110.98 million
A copy of this statement can be viewed at www.thecharacter.com.
Product ranges can also be viewed at www.character-online.co.uk.
Product names in italics represent copyright or registered
trademarks.
Panmure Gordon (Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker)
Andrew Godber, Investment Banking
Tom Salvesen, Corporate Broking
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7886 2500
Allenby Capital Limited (Joint Broker]
Nick Athanas
Katrina Perez
Tel: +44 (0) 20 3328 5656
TooleyStreet Communications Limited (Investor and
media relations)
Fiona Tooley
Tel: +44 (0) 7785 703523
Email: fiona@tooleystreet.com
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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