Sales slide out of Character

CHARACTER Group, the company behind Doctor Who and Spider-Man toys, yesterday said sales were down 35 per cent in Christmas trading, partly as a result of Woolworths' demise.

The company said it had 1 million of stock with Woolworths at the time it ceased trading, but this was down from 5m in September.

Character, which also sells through the retailers Argos and Toys R Us, warned that it was likely to make a loss in the first half of its financial year.