1st May 2007 12:00
Ideal Shopping Direct PLC01 May 2007 Embargoed until 12.00 p.m. 1 May 2007 Ideal Shopping Direct Plc ("Ideal") 1 May 2007 AGM Trading Update At its Annual General Meeting today Jim Hodkinson, Chairman, will give thefollowing update on Ideal's trading performance for the first 16 weeks of 2007: "Last year's renegotiation of the Freeview contract, which extended our presenceon this fast expanding platform until 2018, represented a major strategiccommitment for Ideal. Whilst the cost impact in 2007 is significant, ourperformance so far this year is helping us to absorb the short-term negativeimpact of this. The strong trading reported in our 2006 preliminary results announcement inMarch has continued to produce encouraging results and, after 16 weeks oftrading, our 2007 like for like sales are ahead by 16%. Like for like grosscash margin also increased but reflected the more pro-active trading propositionfor Ideal World and was 13% ahead of the same period last year. Thesecomparatives exclude results from Superstore, which was acquired in June lastyear, the Telewest cable platform on which we started broadcasting in Januarythis year and Jewellery Vault, which closed last year. Superstore has had a successful start to the year. Shipments to Wilkinsons, ourbiggest account win, have started and the business has a strong forward orderbook. April also saw the first deliveries to independent retailers following thelaunch of our Create & Craft wholesale proposition in February. To date, over350 retailers have registered to become customers and our offer continues toattract strong interest in the trade. Ideal's online business continues to show healthy growth. The Ideal World onlineoffer has been strengthened and expanded, and the Create & Craft websitecontinues to benefit from the success of the Create & Craft Club, which now hasover 11,000 members. The company's total online sales in the first 16 weeks of2007 are up 45% on the same period last year. 2007 has started well and the Board has confidence in the strength of Ideal'sstrategic positioning in the TV and online shopping markets." Enquiries: Ideal Shopping Direct Plc Tel: 08700 780 704 Jim Hodkinson, Chairman Andrew Fryatt, CEO Mike Camp, Finance Director Reputation Inc Tel: 020 7758 2800 Tom Wyatt This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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