Sales for its core flower delivery service fell in the six months to June 28 from 拢5.14m to 拢5m, while operating profit fell from 拢1.61m to 拢1.29m due to redundancies, legal fees and the costs of hiring a new chief executive.
Promotion of the courier service made the traditional postal delivery service appear more expensive to consumers while also increasing costs, chief executive Tim Dunningham said. In future, the two services would be marketed separately.
Dunnington is stepping down later this year after 13 years in the job, to be succeeded by Mark Dugdale, managing director of Arcadia Home Shopping.
Flying Brands had better results in its Gardening Direct and Listen2Books businesses with increased sales helping to offset the poor results at Flying Flowers.
Group pre-tax profit fell from 拢2.86m to 拢2.69m, on sales up from 拢18.52m to 拢20.27m.
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