Wicklow firm was established in 1996 by husband and wife team
Card Factory opened its first six stores in Ireland in 2017
Card Factory, the UK-listed retailer of greeting cards and gifts, has bought a Wicklow-based firm that also prints cards, wrap and gift bags.
Card Factory did not say how much it has paid for Garlanna, which last year made a €528,000 profit and had accumulated profits of €2.9m.
Shares in Card Factory plunged as much as 18pc on Tuesday as it reported first-half financial results that saw its pre-tax profit plunge more than 43pc on the back of cost headwinds.
Garlanna was owned by Alan and Jackie MacNamee, who established the business in 1996. The firm employs about 40 people and is thought to generate revenue of about €4m a year.
Releasing half-year results on Tuesday, Card Factory said that it completed the acquisition of Garlanna earlier this month.
It added that the deal will strengthen Card Factory’s position within the Irish market and provide it with further wholesale opportunities and support its retail partnerships strategy.
“Given the short period of time between the completion of the acquisition and these interim financial statements being published, the acquisition accounting is incomplete and the disclosures required by IFRS 3 have not been provided,” Card Factory noted.
“The group expects to include provisional acquisition disclosures commensurate with the size of the acquisition as part of its annual report.”
Card Factory opened its first six stores in Ireland in 2017 and had an ambitious plan to have as many as 69 more within five years. It opened six new stores here in the last financial year to bring its total in Ireland to 33 at the end of January this year.
Card Factory has more than 1,000 stores across the UK and Ireland. Its revenue in Ireland rose to €9.2m from €4.8m in the financial year ended January 2023, reflecting the first full year of trading after the pandemic. It made a profit after tax of €600,000.
In the year to the end of last January, revenue at the Irish arm rose to £11.1m (€13.3m), according to Card Factory’s annual results earlier this year.
Card Factory, whose chief executive is Darcy Willson-Rymer, said on Tuesday that while its revenue rose in the six months to the end of July, its profits were hit by higher costs, including wage inflation and freight costs.