Findel narrows first half losses as its turnaround gathers pace
FINDEL said yesterday that efforts to turn the business around were starting to pay off, as the home shopping group narrowed losses in the first half of the year from £6m to £400,000.
Revenues increased by 5.2 per cent to £243.6m in the six months to 27 September thanks to a strong performance from Express Gift, its largest division, which sells products ranging from toys to furniture.
The group, which launched a turnaround plan three years ago, said this reflected its fourth consecutive half of positive growth.
Chief executive Roger Siddle said the business had benefitted from the growing shift towards discounters as customers look to tighten their belts.
Its core customers are women between 30 and 50 years of age from lower income households.
“The team has developed and continued to develop a proposition hitting customers’ sweet spot…We are providing them with extremely keenly priced products and we do provide them with credit facilities offering them payment flexibility,” he told City A.M.
Findel also sold off its healthcare business in the period, helping to reduce debt by £15.4m to £236.7m.