UPDATE 2-Clinton Cards to axe jobs, stores as trading slows

* Shares down 31.1 percent at 23 pence by 1015 GMT

* FD says group will cut jobs, close stores to save cash

* Company says recent trading, footfall has slowed

(Adds CEO, analyst comment, details, shares)

By Rhys Jones

LONDON, Oct 13 (Reuters) - British retailer Clinton Cards (CLCA.L: Quote, Profile, Research) on Monday swung to a pretax loss of 13.1 million pounds and said it would cut jobs and close stores to reduce costs as the consumer environment weakened, sending its shares lower.

Shares in the greetings card retailer were down 31.2 percent at 24 pence by 1039 GMT, valuing the group at about 69 million pounds.

The company's pretax loss compares to a 15.1 million pounds profit last year after a 30 million pounds non-cash impairment charge made at its Birthdays brand.