Home shopping group Findel has reported like-for-like sales down 5% for the first 23 weeks of its financial year as it continues to focus on cash generation to further reduce net debt.

Findel executive chairman Keith Chapman said in a statement today that the group continues to operate in “challenging times”.

He said: “The Home Shopping division has had a satisfactory start to the new season albeit from a lower customer base, following last year’s strategic decision to scale back recruitment. The early recruitment campaigns for this year are going well, with the business experiencing an encouraging increase in average order value.”

Chapman said the Education Supplies division “continues to experience difficult trading conditions caused predominantly by uncertainty over public sector funding”.

He added that the division is adapting to current market conditions and “a number of efficiencies have been identified and are being implemented while further cost savings and market initiatives are also being planned. These will go some way to help mitigate the effect of lower sales over time”.

Findel will announce its interim results on December 3.