GREETINGS card retailer Clinton Cards issued a profits warning yesterday after its "most challenging" Christmas in years.

The company said that while sales volumes were higher than in 2004, customers were buying cheaper goods, resulting in sales of the Clinton brand falling 2.4 per cent in the five weeks to Christmas Eve.

The Birthdays gift and card business, which the company acquired in 2004, was proving harder to integrate than anticipated, the company said.

Clinton said its performance was below expectations and predicted that pre-tax profits for the year to January 29 would be between £6m and £8m.