Welcome to our interims results update for FY 2022. I'm Darcy, CEO of Card Factory, and joining me today is Kris Lee, our Chief Financial Officer. Kris and I will shortly provide the financial performance update for the half one of FY 2022. As we stated in our prelims, we will provide an update on our future growth strategy, which has been the subject to review over the last few months since I joined the business. Looking first at the financial performance for the first half of FY 2022, we are pleased with how the business has performed. With sales of GBP 116.9 million, Card Factory's achieved a like-for-like revenues of -3.7%. That's split by stores at -72% and online at +50.2%. This has led to a GBP 6.5 million loss before tax. We've continued our strong focus on cash, and our net debt is now below GBP 100 million.
Store transaction levels continue to outperform the Springboard high street footfall data, demonstrating the strength of the brand and the customer proposition. In addition, increased average basket value across multiple categories is offsetting the reduction in transaction volumes. What's important to note? Unlike other retailers, if you missed a birthday party because of lockdown, that event will not be repeated. However, if, for example, we look at the wedding category, what we are seeing is that as restrictions have lifted, we see volumes rebound. Similarly, with children's birthday parties, as schools return, assuming no further restrictions, like wedding, we would expect to see that category bounce back. Looking at online, that channel is performing well and will continue with our planned investment to drive future growth. Online is one of the growth areas examined through the strategy review, which I will talk through in more detail later.
The transition is underway to becoming an omni-channel retailer, allowing customers to shop whenever and however they want. The strategy will show an an increased focus on complementary gifting and party categories to enhance the offer and substantially increase the addressable market. Importantly, we will shift the focus of Card Factory from being a product-led to a customer-led business. Kris will now take you through the financial performance.
I'd just like to give you the financial performance for the first half of FY 2022 for Card Factory. Just turning to the financial summary, overall sales were GBP 116.9 million against GBP 100.5 million last year. Overall, there was 60% of the year where the stores were allowed to trade this year against 48% in the prior year. That, in terms of like-for-likes on a two-year basis against pre-pandemic levels, was -7.2%. Online and multi-channel was +50.2% with a net Card Factory like-for-like revenue of -3.7%, delivering a loss before tax of GBP 6.5 million, which was an improvement on the loss of GBP 22.2 million in the prior year. Net debt has been well controlled at GBP 96.5 million, down from the GBP 143.9 million in the prior year. Including the lease liabilities, that is GBP 238.9 million.
Just moving to a little bit more detail around the like-for-like sales performance in terms of how Card Factory has outperformed footfall trends in terms of what we've seen in terms of Springboard data. I'll turn straight to the graph on the right-hand side, which effectively shows in the top line where the average basket value within our stores has been since reopening in April. As you can see, the ABV was put over 30% up at the start, and in terms of transactions, the bottom line, the green line, were -30%. The middle line, the yellow one, is effectively the like-for-like two-year sales performance. As you can see on the line, there's been a steady underlying recovery in transactions, and therefore in terms of the like-for-like performance in that period. Just turning to the divisional analysis for Card Factory.
Overall, in terms of store revenues, those were GBP 102.7 million. Again, reflecting that 10+ weeks at the beginning part of the year, we were in lockdown. Overall, the store transaction levels are still pre-pandemic levels. However, we have seen that strong recovery and demonstrating the strength of the Card Factory brand. We continue to review the estate of just over 1,000 stores and to make sure they're in the right locations to maximize the sales, and we increased the net store estate by 3 during the period. It's fair to say we're seeing, in terms of retail parks, much stronger performances in terms of the footfall and like-for-like sales.
Moving to the online performance, even though year-on-year the online grew by 4.8%, we should bear in mind that actually the close down period in FY 2022 in terms of the stores was lower. Therefore, that is a pretty strong performance. Getting Personal was down 20.7%. This was an internal decision within the business to go after more profitable sales. We're certainly seeing that within the bottom line where on pay-per-click transactions, we're back in where we can see there's return on investment of them keywords. In terms of partnerships, we've seen strong year-on-year growth at +17.8% up to GBP 2.3 million. Total retail locations have increased as well from 894- 908. We've seen strong performance from Aldi. We've also agreed a contract renewal with them. The Reject Shop and Matalan, though, were impacted by COVID restrictions in the period.
I'd just like to turn to the margins of the business during the period. Overall, the cost of goods in the year were pretty much in line with the prior year in margin percentage terms, a slight improvement of 0.8 percentage points being driven by how we've managed to utilize a lot of the age seasonal stock from prior seasons into the new year. Also store wages, even though store wages are up at GBP 30 million against GBP 23.7 million, this reflects really just the timing in terms of less utilization of the CJRS scheme. Store property costs are down at GBP 4.5 million from GBP 6.9 million. Again, this relates mainly to the timing in terms of government support in terms of business rates. Turning to direct expenses and operating expenses, you can see that year- on- year we've managed to keep them costs flat or slightly down.
The only other point bridging down to the operating loss of GBP 6.5 million is the net financing expenses. That's slightly up at GBP 6.5 million, reflecting the blended average of the financing that's in place now of just sub 5%. One other important call-out on the sheet is the other income, a one-off income of GBP 8 million in the P&L. This reflects the government grants that's been received, in terms of government support and non-essential retail closures. Just turning to the free cash flow. We've seen a continued improvement in the cash generation of the business, and largely driven by the improvement in sales and the profit performance overall. Two further call-outs in terms of the cash flow is, one on the net working capital, where we've seen that GBP -4.7 million .
This is purely down to the deferrals that we managed to negotiate with landlords on rents and with HMRC in terms of VAT. Further down the cash flow, you'll see lease liabilities, that again is GBP -1.7 million . This again is being driven by just the timing on deferral of payments on rents into the current year. Overall, a very positive free cash flow, GBP +14.5 million against GBP 1.1 million last year. One further important point on the free cash flow is the note at the bottom. You might remember at the year- end, I mentioned that there was GBP 21 million of rent deferrals that we'd negotiated, and there was a further GBP 19 million of VAT payment deferrals also.
We sit here at the half year, we've now got GBP 26 million of rent deferrals as we've had further lockdown periods, and we've negotiated further rent deferrals there.
The VAT liability deferrals are now GBP 7 million. I expect by the year- end that into FY 2023, most of the payments will have unwound in 2022, but by 2023 there could be between GBP 6 million and GBP 12 million of them deferral payments hitting that year's cash flow. I'd just like to move to the liquidity update. You'll remember in May of this year, we'd given an announcement in terms of the securing of GBP 225 million of financing facilities for the business. This was with replacement covenants until March 2022. Other important terms that were mentioned in the agreement in May was that we have the requirement to either raise GBP 70 million net equity by July 2022, or to prepay GBP 70 million using funding from other subordinated sources.
It's fair to say as a business, the capital investment has been tightly controlled to preserve cash, while at the same time investing in the long-term strategic objectives. The focus is on maintaining a capital structure that is conservative yet efficient in providing long-term returns to shareholders. The group's capital policy continues to be under review as trading conditions become clearer, and as we see the transactions on the high street recover. I will now pass back across to Darcy to give an update on the refresh strategy.
As previously stated, I would like to use today to provide an update on our future growth strategy. We have undertaken a review of the five-year strategy, which was originally announced at the Capital Markets Day last July. We needed to understand the impact of COVID on the strategy, but I also wanted to ensure that it could deliver the growth that shareholders expect and contained enough ambition to seize the opportunities that exist, both within the markets we serve and the markets we could exploit to create maximum shareholder value. Working at pace, we have stress tested and evolved the strategy, and for reasons I'll explain, there's still more work to be done in some areas. However, what we have is a strategic approach that will build on our market leading proposition in cards while positioning the business to access broader market opportunity.
Let me start by clearly outlining our vision for Card Factory, where we will be by the end of FY 2026, and when we've delivered on our Opening Our New Future strategy. Over the next five years, we will transform Card Factory into the first omni-channel brand in our space to help customers celebrate each and every special occasion. We will become the number one U.K. destination for all customers seeking unrivaled quality, value, choice, convenience, and experience. We will broaden our international footprint, putting more cards and gifts in the hands of more customers around the world. Delivery of the strategy is expected to drive an acceleration in revenue growth and margin expansion, growing revenues to over GBP 600 million by FY 2026, with approximately 20% generated from online and omni-channel and retail partnerships, while creating a business with a low cost base and a highly scalable business model.
We expect the delivery of the strategy to result in a shift in product and channel mix, alongside investment resulting in PBT margin trending towards 17% over the long- term. By building on our existing quality and value heritage, we will take Card Factory on a journey that provides our customers with more convenience by providing greater access to our products wherever they are and wherever they want them. More choice by building upon our leading card offer to expand into complementary ranges, and an exceptional customer experience that makes Card Factory a destination brand for more customers.
If we want to make best use of our nationwide store estate and respond to today's customer needs, then we need to transform the business from a predominantly store-driven retail model to a full omni-channel offer that uses existing and invested infrastructure to become the first card and gifting retailer to provide a seamless physical and online customer experience. This will provide access to all categories anytime, anywhere, including our personalized products by app or website, at home or on the move. We believe that omni-channel provides the opportunity to leverage our brand, store estate, vertical integration, quality and value proposition, as well as our investment in our online channels to materially increase our market share of the online market. The U.K. online market for cards was estimated to be worth GBP 550 million in 2020. That's up from GBP 177 million in 2019.
We are therefore targeting circa 10% of group revenues from online by FY 2026, up from 2% today. The budgeted omni-channel capital expenditure will include near-term investment with areas of note, including enabling our customers to access our brand and offer at home, on the move via our apps, and in store through web access. This will allow our customers to access our extended range in store and will test options to understand appetite and investment return. Increasing the range of shipping options to home or store that meets every budget. Increasing our fulfillment capacity, accuracy, and speed to deliver against our customer service promise. Enabling customers who want to self-serve throughout the journey to be supported by an AI experience focused on recommendations, personalization, notifications, and live chat.
The store portfolio will be optimized to ensure Card Factory has profitable stores in high footfall locations with 100 new stores added to our existing portfolio of 1,000 stores across the U.K. and Republic of Ireland by FY 2026. These new store openings will be focused on under-penetrated areas, including London, and areas of high footfall, including retail parks. The store optimization program will continue with locations selected based on profitability and returns. Our stores will remain a vital route to market and are not simply legacy assets. Store revenues will continue to grow in their own right, but will simply be a smaller proportion of the mix as our online growth accelerates. Initiatives such as targeted pricing and an increased gifting range are expected to improve in-store sales, increase average basket value, and offset the structural trend of minor year-on-year footfall decline.
As part of our omni-channel transformation and through continued platform investment, we expect to increase our share of the online market from 2%- 10%. Our new Business Development Director, Syed Kazmi, joined in late August, and over the coming months, we will have designed and started delivery of our new partnership strategy. This will allow Card Factory to reach more U.K. customers for modest investment in additional convenient locations that meets the growing demand for impulse buying. Internationally, we will use the group's expertise, including card design and customer insight, to expand into new territories through partnerships into markets that show attractive characteristics for entry and disruption.
While continuing to be a card-led retailer in a stable market where 76% of adults are card givers, we will meet customer demand by providing greater choice through complementary gifting and party ranges, opening up access to a large market worth GBP 40 billion per annum in the U.K., capturing more customer spend and increasing average basket value. We are already leaders in party and balloon categories, and for stores, we will be looking at expanding into additional categories such as stationery and confectionery. With other categories also being explored. This will not come at the expense of cards in store. It's about making smarter, more agile choices about the space dedicated to complementary categories.
The card range will be broadened in terms of introducing more modern and contemporary choice, and a clearer focus on the proposition in-store to help shoppers. However, we expect the SKU size will remain the same.
Online, we'll have a far broader offer more across complementary categories. At all times, our vertically integrated business model will remain a unique point of difference, affording us the flexibility to respond to market changes and enabling efficient, high quality production at attractive margins, supporting online growth with lower cost per unit. Providing a new omni-channel service, Card Factory will improve the customer experience and access to its offer by being the first card and gifting brand to bridge digital with its store estate. This will be supported by an improved customer understanding from new data capabilities, including through the rollout of the group's new ERP platform in quarter four this year. This will allow us to understand and respond to changing customer habits and preferences, including insight on price elasticity, enabling us to evolve our pricing approach while maintaining high levels of customer satisfaction.
We will continue to invest in our brand based around quality and value to increase customer awareness and improve trust. Lastly, we will develop our ESG strategy to be recognized as a socially and environmentally responsible business, building on the wide range of existing initiatives that we already have in place. These include the recently introduced foil balloon recycling that is available to any customer visiting our store. We also are proud to have increased our store recycling to 87% of all store waste, and we will be a positive contributor in the communities we are present in, and we continue to be proud of our association with Macmillan Cancer Support, for which we have raised GBP 7 million since the start of our relationship.
In summary, our Opening Our New Future strategy is built upon using our market position, customer loyalty, and vertically integrated model to provide a platform for our new omni-channel strategy. Expanding into the gifting segment, which is highly complementary to the card-giving market, where we are market leaders and which is highly resilient. Our refreshed growth strategy will deliver sustainable revenue and profit growth, and we will be making further investments and development across channels to improve convenience, choice, and experience for customers. Now, with the Christmas season upon us, I want to provide an update on our preparations. We are well-positioned with stock intake brought forward and Card Factory's in-house printing capabilities covering 70% of the range. We have brought forward recruitment to mid-September, supporting the challenging market we face, and system changes mean we can provide a smooth and speedy onboarding process to retain successful Christmas candidates.
Almost all Christmas and everyday ranges will move to auto-replenishment. This will ensure the right stock is in the right stores, and will free up colleague time to focus on customer service. Our product ranges have been planned and built around three new key design trends this year, including our character of the year, the Yeti, which is an amazing character, and I'd encourage you all to go out and buy it. This is supported by lots of great value for money offers throughout the entire store, including cards from GBP 0.29, fabulous gifting ranges from soft toys to monogrammed gifts to festive books, and even amazing chocolate character decorations for the tree, all for only GBP 1. Across our single Christmas card range, we've worked hard to significantly reduce the amount of glitter used throughout the range.
In addition, we're pleased to have been able to remove all plastic from our boxed card range, saving the equivalent of 6.5 million plastic bottles. In summary, Card Factory is now well positioned for growth, targeting over GBP 600 million of sales by FY 2026. We will open 100 net new stores, adding to the existing portfolio of over 1,000 stores across the U.K. and the Republic of Ireland by FY 2026. We will transition towards 20% of sales expected to come from online and omni-channel and retail partnerships by FY 2026. Our PBT margin will trend towards 17% in the longer- term, reflecting shift in product and channel mix, and we will have completed our transformation to a full omni-channel offer. Thank you for your time today. We now look forward to answering any questions that you may have.
Thank you very much. We've had quite a few questions on the webcast. Just as a reminder, if you'd like to submit a question, then please use the toolbar at the bottom of the screen. Our first question comes from Vikram. He's got a few questions here. First one is, in the May trading update and Annual Report, the company intended to use best efforts to raise equity net proceeds of GBP 70 million. In the latest update, the wording has been changed to the company is permitted to facilitate these payments through the issue of new equity or through debt. The wording has been changed to exclude best efforts for equity raise. Why is this?
Yeah. Just to be clear, there's no change there at all. Best efforts is still the case on the equity raise or to prepay through subordinated debt. That's just an update on the presentation. There's no change in terms of the best efforts requirement.
Thank you. Another question for Kris. It's from Vikram again. He's got two questions. He's got three questions here. I'll ask them all at the same time. First one is, what is the due date for the term loan and CLBILS debt? Second question is, how much is in prepayment do you need to make by July 2022 to avoid paying the GBP 5 million penalty? His last question is, what conditions do you need to meet to be able to extend the RCF loan to 2024?
The first question, what was the due date for the term loan CLBILS debt, that is effectively September 2023 in the agreement. How much in prepayments do you need to make by July 2022 to avoid paying GBP 5 million amount penalty? The way that works is effectively, if we raise GBP 70 million net equity by November, then we pay none of the GBP 5 million penalty. If we don't do it after July, we pay the full GBP 5 million penalty, and then there's a ratchet in between. If we come short of the GBP 70 million, then the GBP 5 million is effectively prorated on that amount. In terms of the extension through to September 2024, that is basically based on us doing a successful equity raise of GBP 70 million or the subordinated debt of GBP 70 million.
Thank you. Our next question is from Harvey Jones. What progress has been made on growing partnership revenues, and how close is Card Factory to agreeing any new deals?
Thanks for the question. I think partnerships remains an important part of the strategy, and we continue to make progress. I think the biggest development is us hiring Syed as our new Business Development Director, who is very experienced in this space. He joined us a few weeks ago, and he's in the middle of reviewing the work that we're doing and the strategy. So more information to come in the future.
Thank you. Next question is from Richard Martin. Why are you not milking your estate by extending hours, not only on weekdays but also on Sunday, specifically in areas that you're close to other longer opening stores? You can also, on most of your shops, open for longer on Sundays. That's more of a comment. Maybe Darcy can address that one.
Yeah, sure. We have a program where we review the opening hours of all stores. Clearly, given the low price point and the labor costs, making sure that it's economic is important. Steve, our retail director, has a program where that gets reviewed frequently, and we make changes as is necessary to the estate.
Thank you. Next question is from Peter Canlish, who is asking, please can you expand on why online revenue is still so slow in absolute terms? Why is growth slow? What will make Card Factory's online market share grow over the next 12 months and coming years?
Yeah. In terms of online, we were relatively late coming to online. The platform went in about a year ago, then we launched the apps. Also during lockdown, we had capacity challenges on fulfillment. We continue to invest in the technology and continue to invest in fulfillment so that we can trade the peaks well. We continue with the strategy that I've outlined. We've done a deep dive on online, and we have a robust strategy and program of works that will help us grow that business significantly.
Perfect. Thank you. Our next question is from Adam Tomlinson from Liberum. Adam is asking, can you please talk a bit about how you see the outlook for costs heading into 2022 in freight, wages, rent, utilities, et cetera. What levers do you have to help mitigate pressure if they persist? Maybe that's a question for Kris.
Just taking them in turn. I suppose in terms of freight, everybody has seen in terms of an increase in freight costs. There will be some headwind from that in the second half of the year. In terms of mitigation, one of the things that we're looking to do is to effectively try and flatten the intake, so we're making your best container fills. There is things we're doing to automate and mitigate that. In terms of wages, certain things like agency staff and things for covering Christmas trading period. Obviously, there's been a lot said in the market in terms of the pressures in that area. We've gone quite early in terms of recruiting. That's going well. Clearly, there's still a bit of a runway in yet to go into Christmas.
So far, we've not seen any major sort of wage inflation there, but there's time to go. There could be some pressures on agency staff. In terms of rents, overall, we've been getting good rent reductions. Obviously, these are ones where the leases are coming up for renewal. Most of the rents agreed were with deferrals. Some were with some cash savings on them. Overall, in the year, the ones that we've renegotiated, we've got good results on. There's some where we've tried to take advantage and bring some of the rent reviews forward a little bit, and negotiate early while the market's where it is. Finally, on utilities, in particular, obviously electricity and wholesale prices, where they've been heading. We're hedged out for the next three years effectively on the electricity, so we've took steps to mitigate that cost.
Yeah, I suppose the big one there is the freight piece, and as a business, we're looking at what levers we can pull, in terms of offsetting that cost, as well as how efficiently we can bring the stock in.
Thank you. There's actually another two questions from Adam, so we'll take them all now. His other question was, How are you looking at your headroom to increase prices? And can you give any more information/updates on discussions you're having with potential new retail partners?
Thank you. I think from a pricing perspective, clearly we put in some price increases last year, which we have seen no adverse effect on volumes. We are doing a piece of work around understanding pricing elasticity. I think the way we should be thinking of this is pricing is a lever for us to use to offset inflation, as well as other things around productivity that we're working on. We are focused on maintaining our value proposition, at the same time, making sure that appropriate inflation is passed on. In terms of partnerships, I've got nothing to update further beyond Syed joining, and he is reviewing the strategy as we speak.
Thank you. Next question is from Toso, who is thanking you for the presentation and asks, What is the criteria used to choose between the capital raising mechanisms? He says, At the current market cap, a GBP 70 million equity raise would cause an enormous dilution for current shareholders. What are less damaging options, and why is this path not clear yet?
The process of which we've been through, we did the refinances, as we said, in May. The board are considering all options. Clearly, we're taking into account all stakeholders, including shareholders, on the point there, if it was an equity raise option. Also, there's other debt options that we're looking at as well. There's nothing to update at the minute on that. Rest assured, myself and the board are actively looking at all options, and we hope to bring clarity on this as soon as we can.
Thank you. Our next question is from Patrick Gerrard, who is asking, Is there a forecast when the decision to increase the company's capital will be taken? Considering that the lockdown is over and the future prospect of revenue is at least equal to the pre-pandemic level, what is the probability that it will be necessary to raise more funds via the issuance of new shares?
On that one, I'd have to refer back to my previous answer, really. Like I say, we're looking at all the different options, in terms of debt options and the equity raise options, as per the agreement in the legal bank agreement.
Thank you. Perfect. Another question from Harvey Jones is, Should Card Factory consider a marketplace model for its website, i.e., allow complementary retailer space on the website, but not to handle their own fulfillment? An example being flowers. I'm not really sure if that's a question, but maybe Darcy can address that.
Yeah, I can take this one. As part of the strategy, we talked about expansion in gifts in complementary categories and doing gifts fulfilled by third parties is definitely an option and something we are looking at.
Thank you very much. Next question is from Ulrich, who has got two questions. First question is, "Is there any chance the loans to be repaid with 2022 could be financed by operative results without going for a capital increase and diluting shareholders' capital? Have you maybe contacted your major shareholders if they can support you concerning organizing a financing through subordinated loans?" The second question is, Concerning the international partnerships, which countries are you approaching now? That is his questions.
Yeah, a similar line of questioning again. There's no further comment I can make really, apart from we have consulted with all stakeholders as you'd expect us to. Ultimately, the decision will rest with the board on what their options are. The second point concerning international partnerships, in which countries we sort of laid out in the Capital Markets Day, which countries those would possibly be. As Darcy mentioned, Syed now being on board, but only for a short period has he's been with us. Clearly one of the key things he's assessing is the U.K. and internationally, what the opportunities are.
Thank you. We have a question about the Yeti. Maybe Darcy can take this one. How invested is Card Factory in the Yeti?
We have our products team, both the commercial team and the design team, I have great confidence in. I think the Yeti we're excited about, we think it'll be a good seller this year, and we have basically purchased appropriately. Yeah, we're excited about it.
Next question's from Kate Calvert from Investec. She has three questions. First question is there an opportunity to take out cash rent going forward or given looking at to add circa 100 as a flat profile more appropriate year on year? Second question is, views on pricing architecture with recent trials of higher price points and potential to stretch it? Our last question is on the partnership model, can you talk about where you're up to in developing a pipeline, and should we expect news on additional contracts in the next year?
I'll take the first question. I suppose, just reiterating on rent, what we agreed during the lockdown periods is, negotiated with landlords in terms of deferrals. Now there was options to maybe get cash reductions on them deferred rent, but only on the basis a lot of these deals were signed up to longer tenure. One of the things we've always kept in the portfolio is to keep it as flexible as we can on that top two and a half years, reducing the lease lengths, which I think is even more important that we review that as the 1,000 stores and locations. Like I say, we are getting rents down in terms of the negotiations that we're currently having as leases are coming up for renewal. In terms of the circa 100 stores that we're looking to add on, we still think 1,100 stores is achievable.
The focus will be on making sure they hit the investment criterion, and hurdle rates. That 18-month payback's always been something that we've looked at, so that will still remain the focus when we're assessing adding that 100 stores. I think equal, if not more important, is more the 1,000 stores, their location, maximizing sales out of them locations.
Thank you. We actually have another question from Kate as well. She says, can you give some detail on investment needed in manufacturing to deliver your refresh strategy?
Sorry, I don't think we answered the point.
Section two and three. Darcy, you can answer the second part.
Yeah.
The higher price points.
I think in terms of the other two questions around pricing architecture, I've answered a few questions. Look, I know there's quite a lot of energy for us to be very specific about what headroom we think there are in prices, and that's a really difficult question to answer. I will say that historically, it's an underutilized lever in the business, and it's one that we do have at our disposal, and we will use appropriately. It is also about maintaining the balance between value and price. We have recently done a full market competitor review of pricing to know where we sit. I don't think I have any more detail other than that. Again, partnership model, I think I've addressed that question.
Perfect. Yeah, just back onto Kate's follow-up question, can you give some detail on investment needed in manufacturing to deliver your refresh strategy?
The manufacturing side and the vertical integration side has always been obviously a competitive advantage and something that we've always focused on investing in the right areas. In the past we've invested in terms of the envelopes, how we use foil, which is quite an expensive commodity, more efficiently. That's constantly under review. We don't think there's an area where there's a massive underinvestment or anywhere where we think we need to make a big investment. We invested in a new printing machine in the last year or so, which was double the speed. We've got quite a bit of capacity in there. Really the other investments we'll look at in the manufacturing side is where we still think we can do things to try and enhance the cost of goods, particularly obviously around card.
Thank you. We have another question from Vikram. This one can be for Darcy. Can you discuss more about your competitive landscape in the gift market compared to pure online player or other card pure online only players?
Yeah. There are a few things I'll give. First of all, in the original strategy when we did the customer segmentation work, that work was done around cards. We refreshed that work, and we're looking at the customer segmentation based around gift. We've got some data, and we have some things in research for us to test around the gifting. I think that's one area. The second thing is, I think, we and most of our competitors do seasonal gifts very well, so this Christmas, Mother's Day, Father's Day. I think there's an opportunity to us to do everyday gift and to own that space. I think also the gift market is a GBP 40 billion market. That is not the total addressable size for us, but it's a significant size market, and therefore, there are opportunities for us to exploit that.
We know that 72% of customers or of people in the U.K. send gifts with cards. Again, that's why there's a great opportunity for us.
Thank you. Our next question is from Siddhant. With the current increase in supply chain costs, how has that impacted your cost of goods sold? Approximately how much of your cost of goods sold pre-COVID were made up from freighting costs, and how much were year- to- date?
I think you can see from the half-year margin position that we've managed margin quite well, even with some of the freight issues. I think on the overall product margin, we still remain quite confident in maintaining that in the medium longer-term. Certainly, I think second half of this year we will see a little bit of pressure in there, like I say, on freight costs. I think that's sort of trebled, but we're looking what we can do to mitigate it. I won't give a profit or a margin forecast on that. Yeah, that's probably the 1 area of concern, I suppose, for the second half.
Thank you. Another question from Harvey. To what extent have stores which saw closure of Clintons or other competitors benefited? Have these stores seen an improved LFL performance due to increased small area market share?
Yeah, I think to do with Clintons, I think, and other competitors, I think it's always thought that once a Clintons close, we'll pick up all of them sales. There is a slightly different customer that goes into Clintons, equally, I think we've eroded a lot of that customer base over the years. We do see an uplift in the like-for-like sales. In terms of locations, we know all the locations of Clintons, Paperchase, et cetera, locations in the town and where we want to be. We're pretty comfortable, even Clintons, if all the stores were to close, obviously, they've been in a reducing portfolio and restructuring as has Paperchase. We're already in pretty good locations. There's fairly limited locations where we'd want to relocate where a Clintons store or Paperchase would be. Yeah.
The next question is from Richard Martin, who is making more of a statement. He's saying extending shopping times do not cost that much more, and where I see your stores, they could be extended as they can sometimes be one of the first to close. What are your thoughts on that statement, Darcy?
Yes. I think I'm not sure, Richard, you asked this question earlier and therefore, you didn't think the answer was full enough, or if it's a repeat. We do look at footfalls by hour, and we have a criteria by which we make decisions about what the shop opening hours are to effectively capture customer need, but also to make sure that the shops are profitable. It's something that we review frequently. Happy to take a specific look at it, and feel free to get in touch if you have a particular point you want to discuss.
Thank you. That concludes our webcast Q&A today. I'll hand back to yourself, Darcy, for any closing remarks.
Great. Thank you very much for hosting. To everybody on the call, we really appreciate your time and engagement today, and we look forward to engaging again in the future at our next update. Thank you all.