By Paul Sandle
LONDON (Reuters) -Moonpig reported lower earnings after the boost it received from the pandemic faded, but said many of the customers it had gained were continuing to buy its online cards and gifts, giving it confidence about the year ahead.
The British company, which listed 16 months ago at the height of the pandemic, reported adjusted earnings of 74.9 million pounds ($91 million) for the year to end-April, down 19% on the previous year, but up 69% on two years ago.
Chief Executive Nickyl Raithatha said the company had held on to much of the additional trade it had gained when its store-based rivals were closed in periods of lockdown.
"We've significantly enlarged our customer base and each of our customers is buying 15% more than they than they were before the pandemic," he said on Wednesday.
He said Moonpig was not seeing any impact on customer spending from increases in the cost of living, but it remained vigilant.
The 22-year-old company had been through recessions before and demand for its cards, which are comparable in price to a cup of coffee, had been resilient, he said.
Shares in Moonpig, which were priced at 350 pence when the company listed, were down 7% in morning deals at 226 pence.
Moonpig will increase its range of gifts when its acquisition of gift experiences platform Buyagift closes in the next few weeks.
The deal will help revenue in the current year increase to around 350 million pounds from 304 million pounds in its last financial year, the company said.
($1 = 0.8217 pounds)