Trading in the second half of 2006 has been mixed, says Flying
Brands which experienced a 5 per cent drop in like for like
sales. Whilst Flying Flowers’ sales were ahead of internal
forecasts and total like for like internet sales over the
Christmas period improved by 31 per cent across the business,
both its Garden and Entertainment divisions performed behind plan
as a result of “low new customer recruitment and the
continued warmer weather”. To combat the decline in the
Garden division, Flying Brands aims to reduce its reliance on the
“volatile bedding plants sector” and
“accelerate product expansion”. It will also merge
Listen2Books and Silverminds to create a unified entertainment
brand with a single database of customers. “We are working
hard on increasing our internet development which will deliver
further growth in 2007, but we have some challenges in both our
Garden and Entertainment divisions which we are addressing
urgently,” said the group’s chief executive, Mark Dugdale.
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