Hornby 'does more with less' buy toy firm loses steam

Struggling toy trains maker Hornby saw light at the end of the tunnel on Wednesday as it sought to reassure jittery shareholders despite a difficult summer.

Sales have been lacklustre from April to August, it admitted, as it was still grappling with delays in delivering products and struggling to shift old stock. The retailer, which is in the midst of a turnaround plan under new chief executive Lyndon Davies, had to secure an £18 million lifeline in June after warning on profits twice this year.

Investors have been urged by shareholder advisory group ISS to vote against a golden goodbye today for its former boss, Steve Cooke.

Despite the company’s financial travails, Cooke took home a £156,000 exit fee on top of his £365,000 salary — which has raised investors’ ire.

Hornby has stopped discounting goods to improve its margins and is “doing more with less”, which has helped narrow its losses, the company said. Davies added: “The business is leaner and the improvement to our planning horizons are well advanced.”

Shares added 0.6p to 36.5p, building on gains last week when it signed a deal with Warner Bros to make products related to the Harry Potter franchise as well as the DC comic book universe, home of superheroes such as Batman.