Card Factory has seen revenue surge during the first six months of the year, but the greeting cards retailer still ended up in the red.

EBITDA surged by 202.6 per cent, reaching £23.6m in the first half of the year, while revenue jumped by 16.3 per cent year on year to stand at a healthy £116.9m. Despite surging intake the company lost £6.5m in H1 while net debt remained close to £100m.

Darcy Willson-Rymer, Chief Executive Officer, commented: “the delivery of the growth strategy set out in July 2020 – and the broader retail environment itself – has obviously been impacted by Covid-19. However, it is clear that the right way forward is to transition Card Factory from being a store led card retailer into a market leading, omni-channel retailer of cards and gifts.”

The company has announced the ambitious target of over £600m of sales by FY 2026.

Read more: Card Factory completes £225m refinancing as reopening sales soar