Hornby PLC shares tumbled on Tuesday, as it warned of a ‘modest’ loss in its current financial year despite a strong Christmas trading period.

Margate, England-based Hornby makes and sell model railways. Its shares were down 16% at 24.25 pence each in London on Tuesday morning.

Hornby said that in the period from October 1 to December 31 sales were ahead of the same period last year. It added that cumulative sales for the financial year to date are ahead of last year by 6%. The company’s financial runs to March 31.

However, Hornby noted that these sales figures are behind budget, due to the ‘challenging consumer economic climate.’

Net debt at the end of December rose to £7.6 million, compared to £4.9 million at the end of September.

Looking ahead, Hornby remains cautious in its outlook for the full year, due to a high level of uncertainty around the impact of several factors on our sales such as inflation and mortgage costs for consumers. However, the company is ‘hopeful’ that confidence in consumer spending will remain, as employment is expected to remain high.

Hornby added that its current forecast for the financial year is a ‘modest’ underlying pretax loss.

The company will announce is full-year results in June.

Executive Chair Lyndon Davies said: ‘Sales at Hornby continue to grow with a stream of new products in the pipeline. We look forward to the continued growth in direct relationships with our customers.’

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