Clinton Cards today said strong sales of spooky party products over Halloween had helped boost first quarter sales.

The card chain said like-for-like sales had picked up to 3.9% for the 16 weeks to November 22, faster than the 2.9% seen in the first 10 weeks of the financial year.

Clinton said the results reflected a “solid performance across all product categories and with Halloween performing exceptionally well”.

Alongside its core card offering, the group also sells gift and party products, with Halloween-inspired items including dressing-up outfits and house decorations.

The firm resuscitated parts of its Birthdays subsidiary by striking a deal with administrators to reclaim 196 of the stores earlier this year.

Around 750 jobs were lost in June when administrators Zolfo Cooper took over the loss-making business, which Clinton had owned since December 2004.

Clinton paid £3.5 million for the profitable part of the Birthdays estate, but decimated stock levels caused like-for-like sales to fall 22% initially before stabilising to a single digit fall.

Today Clinton said: “The newly constituted Birthdays business continues to improve and is meeting expectations.”

Clinton said as always the Christmas period will be a “crucial time” for the group.

The firm said it had opened eight new stores and closed 10 stores since the beginning of the financial year in August.

It now has a total of 859 stores, comprising of 676 Clinton and 183 Birthdays outlets.