Moonpig lifts full-year revenue guidance

Online greeting card retailer Moonpig lifted its full-year revenue guidance on Tuesday as it hailed strong trading in the year to date.

In an update on trading from 30 April to date, the company said frequency remains elevated following a limited change in consumer mobility through the summer, despite the lifting of lockdown restrictions.

As a result, it increased its guidance for FY22 revenue to between around £270m and £285m from a previous forecast of £250m to £260m.

"We have invested at a higher rate in the long-term growth drivers of our business, including promotional activity to drive strategic levers such as app downloads and customer reminder setting, and through the development of our technology platform," the company said.

"As people return to offices and conditions normalise, the data we collect on customer behaviour will provide important insights."

Moonpig said its view on underlying growth trends and its medium-term growth and margin targets remains unchanged.

At 0900 BST, the shares were up 2% at 367.44p.

Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "Moonpig’s flying pandemic sales haven’t yet come down to earth with a bump. Despite the lifting of restrictions and the extra competition from high street card retailers, business was still benefiting from an ongoing trend to buy cards and gifts online."

However, Streeter cautioned that the increased revenue guidance won’t necessarily translate to a similar uplift in profits, "as hanging onto newly acquired customers is a costly business and the company has budgeted for a big marketing drive, including promotions to drive app downloads".

"It knows that when more workers do return to the office, they’ll have a chance to nip out at lunchtime again to pick up presents and cards, and bricks and mortar retailers are likely to also up their game in competition. But it’s now acquired a huge data set on customer choices and preferences, which alongside its flexible delivery options, should help it stay ahead of the herd for now."