Card Factory (CARD) revealed another special dividend as it reported a 4 per cent rise in adjusted operating profit for the first half. By the time shareholders trouser the 17.8p total half-year payout, the retailer would have returned nearly £164m to shareholders since the stock floated two years ago. Management takes a discretionary approach to one-off payments, and with net debt at a manageable 1.26 times underlying cash profits and operating cash flow up 16 per cent to £37.9m, it certainly couldn't be accused of profligacy.
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Like-for-like sales were broadly flat from a year ago; with reduced footfall mitigated by an increase in the average customer spend, as a growing proportion of punters add non-card products to their baskets.