TIDMIDS
RNS Number : 6317T
Ideal Shopping Direct PLC
10 June 2009
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For Immediate Release
10 June 2009
Ideal Shopping Direct Plc
AGM statement
At its Annual General Meeting today, Paul Wright, Chairman, will give the
following update on the trading performance of Ideal Shopping Direct (the
'Company') for the first 21 week period ended 24 May 2009:
"As reported in our preliminary results announcement on 16 April 2009, sales
have continued to perform slightly ahead of our expectations, up around 2.0%
over the comparable period in 2008. The gross margins, that have remained stable
during the period to date, are improving and we believe that we can return them
to historic levels in the foreseeable future. Stock control initiatives
introduced at the beginning of the year are being maintained without any
negative knock-on effects to the business.
We continue to acquire significant numbers of new customers, including an
increase in our Create and Craft club membership from 23,800 at 29 December 2008
to 40,000 at 24 May 2009 following a very successful recruitment drive. The
executive management team is now focused on improving the customer experience in
the areas of ordering, delivery and customer service.
We continue to manage our costs and working capital closely, and at 31 May 2009,
the Company's cash balance was GBP9.5m (net cash was GBP7.7m after adjusting for
our outstanding loans) lending significant strength to the Company in these
uncertain economic times.
Management changes in the Company are now largely complete and we have a team
focused on presenting exciting products to our viewers and customers, ensuring
that their customer experience is a good one, reducing unnecessary costs in the
business and driving improving profitability for our shareholders. We hope to
appoint a new independent non-executive director in the coming weeks.
Although the economic conditions remain challenging, the Board remains
cautiously optimistic that the business will return to profitability in the
medium term.
For further information please contact:
Ideal Shopping Direct Plc
Paul Wright, Chairman
Mike Hancox, Chief Executive
Tel: 01733 316203
Fairfax I.S. PLC
Adam Hart / Laura Littley
Tel: 020 7598 5368
Buchanan Communications
Richard Darby / Miranda Higham
Tel: 020 7466 5000
Notes to editors:
Ideal Shopping Direct is one of the UK's leading TV home shopping retailers. It
operates four TV channel brands: 'Ideal World', its core channel, is on the
rapidly expanding Freeview platform, as well as on Sky, Virgin and Freesat.
'Ideal World', 'Ideal World 2', 'Ideal World 3' and 'Create and Craft' are all
broadcast on Sky.
'Ideal World' offers a broad selection of general merchandise with six product
categories: Fashion, Leisure and Craft along with Home, Health & Beauty and
Jewellery. 'Ideal World 2' and 'Ideal World 3' repeat selected shows of 'Ideal
World' and 'Create and Craft' is a niche channel offering a wide range of craft
products.
Ideal also operates two transactional websites: idealworld.tv and
createandcraft.com which offer a live stream of the TV content and a wide range
of its products. Its corporate website is www.idealshoppingdirect.tv.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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