28 November 2017

Card Factory plc

('Card Factory' or 'the Company')

Appointment of Non-Executive Director

Card Factory, the UK's leading specialist retailer of greeting cards and related gifting items, is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr Roger Whiteside as an Independent Non-Executive Director of the Company effective from 4 December 2017.

Roger is currently Chief Executive of Greggs plc, the UK's leading bakery food-on-the-go retailer.   Prior to this, Roger served as Chief Executive of both the Thresher Group off-licence chain and Punch Taverns as well as having been a founding member and Joint Managing Director of Ocado. These roles followed a 20 year career with Marks and Spencer where he ultimately led its food business. 

Welcoming him to the Board, Geoff Cooper, Chairman, said:

"We're delighted to welcome Roger to the Board of Card Factory. He brings a wealth of retail and leadership experience that will support the delivery and further development of our strategy."

Mr Whiteside will also be appointed as a member of the Company's Audit and Risk and Remuneration Committees.

Mr Whiteside does not currently hold any Card Factory plc shares and there are no further details required to be disclosed under LR 9.6.13 R of the UK Listing Authority's Listing Rules.

ENDS

Enquiries

Card Factory plc                                                                  +44 (0) 203 128 8100

Karen Hubbard, Chief Executive Officer

Kristian Lee, Chief Financial Officer

MHP Communications                                                      +44 (0) 203 128 8100

                                                                                               cardfactory@mhpc.com

Simon Hockridge / Giles Robinson / Nessyah Hart

Notes to Editors

Card Factory is the UK's leading specialist retailer of greeting cards, dressings and gifts. It focuses on the value and mid-market segments of the UK's large and resilient greeting cards market, and also offers a wide range of other quality products, including small gifts and gift dressings, at affordable prices. Card Factory principally operates through its nationwide chain of over 900 Card Factory stores, as well as through its online offerings: www.gettingpersonal.co.uk and www.cardfactory.co.uk.

The Group's clear strategy is focused on four pillars of growth:

-      continuing to grow like-for-like sales in existing stores;

-      continuing to roll out profitable new stores;

-      continuing to focus on delivering business efficiencies; and

-      increasing penetration of the complementary online market.

Card Factory commenced operations in 1997 with just one store and has expanded its store estate primarily through organic growth into a market-leading value retailer with a nationwide presence. The Group's stores are in a wide range of locations including on high streets in small towns through to major cities, shopping centre developments, out-of-town retail parks and factory outlet centres.

Since 2005, Card Factory has developed a vertically integrated business model with an in-house design team, an in-house printing facility and central warehousing capacity of over 360,000 sq. ft.  This model differentiates the Group from its competitors by significantly reducing costs and adding value to customers in terms of both price and quality, underpinning the Group's motto: "compare the quality, compare the price".

In the financial year ended 31 January 2017, the Group achieved revenue growth of 4.3% to £398.2 million (FY16: £381.6 million) and underlying EBITDA growth of +3.8% to £98.5 million (FY16: £95.0 million) at a margin of 24.7% (FY16: 24.9%).