The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 4 as it forms part of UK domestic law pursuant to the Market Abuse (Amendment) (EU Exit) regulations (SI 2019/310) ("MAR"), and is disclosed in accordance with the Company's obligations under Article 17 of MAR. Upon the publication of this announcement via the Regulatory Information Service, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.

THE CHARACTER GROUP PLC

("Character", the "Company" or the "Group")

Designers, developers and international distributor of toys, games, and giftware

Trading Update

London: Friday, 20 January 2023: The Character Group (AIM: CCT) will be holding its Annual General Meeting today at 11.00am. Ahead of this, the Group provides the following update:

As we highlighted in our Annual results announcement on 22 December 2022, trading conditions across all the Group's markets have remained challenging, with revenue for the four months to 31 December 2022 down approximately 42% against the comparative period in 2021, with USA sales showing a marked drop.  

The Group has a strong product portfolio of both in-house developed and distributed products and our customers have shown great enthusiasm for our offering at previews.  With innovative and exciting new brand concepts, additions and extensions being unveiled at the London Toy Fair next week (24 - 26 January), we are very encouraged and expect similar reactions from the market to our enlarged portfolio over the coming months.

Despite the tough and challenging start to the current financial year, the Board remains optimistic that the anticipated rebound will come through strongly in the second half.  Accordingly, the Company shall be profitable for the financial year as a whole, however, sales and profit before tax (before highlighted items) are expected to be marginally below current market expectations. 

We will update shareholders further on the market and our progress at the time of the interim results, which are scheduled to be released in May 2023.

The Character Group plc

FTSE sector:  leisure goods:

FTSE AIM All-share: symbol: CCT

Market cap: £80m

Email:  info@charactergroup.plc.uk

Group website: www.thecharacter.com

Product ranges can also be viewed at www.character-online.co.uk

CHARACTER GROUP PLC CCT Stock | London Stock Exchange