CLINTON Cards plans to cash in on regional differences this year by rolling out a system that automatically registers which cards sell best in certain areas of the country.

The Essex company is spending £1.4m on installing the software on to its tills in two-thirds of its 695 high street stores.

Clinton Cards' finance director Barry Hartog said the data sent back by the software would allow the company to react more quickly to customer's needs.

He said: "We know there are differences, for instance in some areas of the country your grandma is called grannie or gran. There are so many regional variations like this.

"We might have had a feeling for this before, but now there will be hard facts. We will also be able to tell what our bestsellers are very quickly."

The move came as Clinton Cards reported pre-tax profits of £17.8m for the 12 months to January 28 after goodwill costs of £1.3m, compared to a profit of £16.3m the year before. Turnover rose 6.1 per cent to £315.3m, with like-for-like sales ahead 3.6 per cent.

Don Lewin, Clinton Cards' chairman, said the growth had continued into the current financial year, with comparable sales in the nine weeks to April 1 up 12.6 per cent following "excellent results" from Valentine's Day and Mothers' Day.

Mr Lewin said the company hoped to have more than 700 stores trading by the end of the year.

He said Clinton Cards would continue to develop its website, which offers online customers personalised everyday greeting cards and gifts.

Clinton Cards concessions will now be run in 40 Debenhams stores, after an extensive trial which began last year.

Shareholders will receive a total dividend of 5.88p per share, up 12.4 per cent.