hornby plc said tuesday that sales in its fiscal third quarter rose on year though yeartodate sales are still behind budget and forecast a modest fullyear underlying pretax loss the londonlisted models and collectibles group said sales in the threemonth period ended dec 31 and covering the key christmas business period rose on year and as a result cumulative group sales for fiscal 2023 to date are up 6 the company said this reflects better availability of stock price increases and investment in ecommerce platforms and digital media however sales figures are behind budget due to the challenging consumer economic climate and will hurt the result for the year ending march 31 the company said hornby said its order book remains strong ahead of its 2023 product range releases and its direct to consumer sales have increased being 44 up onyear the company said it remains cautious in its fullyear outlook and beyond due to high uncertainty around factors such as inflation and mortgage costs for consumers though as uk employment remains high it remains hopeful confidence in consumer spending remains it forecast a modest fiscal 2023 underlying pretax loss but didnt provide a specific figure hornby will publish its fiscal 2023 results in june