TV shopping duo bank £10m

The co-founders of television shopping group Ideal Shopping Direct cashed in £10m (€14.6m) of shares today as annual profits more than trebled.

Chief executive Paul Wright, 54, raised around £7m (€10.2m) while executive director Valerie Kaye banked more than £3m (€4.4m), representing nearly half of their stakes in the firm.

It came as the group revealed annual profits rose to £4.1m (€6m) from £123,000 (€179,000) last time, far outstripping the £3m (€4.4m) it predicted in October. It also announced a maiden dividend to shareholders, helping shares to rise 6% today.

The group runs the TV channel Ideal World, which features programmes on products such as jewellery, fashion, skincare and gardening, and is available to digital, satellite and cable viewers.

The company, based in Peterborough, England was set up by Mr Wright in 1985 and Ms Kaye joined soon afterwards. It floated in 2000 as a direct mail business but the management team has since changed it into a television shopping firm.

Shares have soared from a low point of around 40p in January last year to their current level of 239.5p today.

Chairman Jim Hodkinson said the group was “exceptionally” well-placed to expand its position in the television shopping market, which is now thought to be worth around £800m (€1.2bn) a year.

Its main customers are married homeowners, many with grown-up children, who are interested in items for the home and leisure, clothing and jewellery.

Mr Hodkinson said the company expected a further period of sustained growth over the next three to five years. Ideal Shopping currently has an estimated 7.5% of this market.

He added: “The current year has started well with performance being in line with our internal expectations.”

Investors are to receive a maiden dividend of a penny.

Shares rose 14.5p to 239.5p today.