16th May 2025 11:06
(Alliance News) - Character Group PLC on Friday said it has paused the shipment of China-made products to the US due to the uncertainty of tariffs, as it is hopeful for a negotiated solution.
The Surrey, England-based toys, games and giftware company which manufactures Peppa Pig toys said pretax profit jumped 42% to GBP3.2 million in the six months to February 28, from GBP2.2 million a year prior.
Highlighting uncertainty revolving around US tariff announcements, the company slashed its interim dividend by 63% to 3.0p per share from 8.0p a year ago.
Revenue fell 8.0% to GBP53.0 million from GBP57.6 million.
Cost of sales decreased 11% to GBP37.5 million from GBP41.9 million.
Pertinently, the company reported a gain on changes in fair value of financial instruments of GBP1.1 million, up sharply from GBP154,000 a year prior.
Character said in the financial year ended August 31, sales to the US amounted to about 20% of its revenue, with substantially all of its products sold in the US being manufactured in China.
"The significant increase in tariffs on imports to the USA from China immediately put the contribution derived from these sales in the second half of the year at risk as shipments were put on hold," the firm said, adding it is hoping for a negotiated solution.
It continued: "The uncertainty flowing from the imposition of these tariffs has been felt in other parts of the world as customers have become increasingly cautious and are not committing to orders to our expectations. This is impacting sales in all our key territories. Despite this, the board remains confident that the group will be profitable in the current financial year as a whole, although it is too early to forecast short to medium term trading at this juncture."
Character shares fell 3.9% to 245.00 pence each on Friday morning in London.
By Tom Budszus, Alliance News slot editor
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