Majestic Wine toasts sales growth

Majestic Wine said it was on track for higher growth as it fell into the red for the six months to September.

The retailer posted a pre-tax loss of £4.4m, compared with a profit of £4.5m for the same period last year, and said it had been focusing on boosting sales rather than the bottom line.

Majestic said the loss was largely due to a failed marketing campaign for its Naked Wine business.

Like-for-like sales rose 5.7% in the 26-week period.

Shares jumped 3.9% to 313.5p in morning trading in London.

The firm reiterated its pledge to hit annual sales of £500m by 2019.

Its Naked Wine business matches customers, called Angels, with small wine producers. It had expected said that a US test mail shot had indicated a wider mailout would boost sales strongly, but this had not been borne out. 

Rowan Gormley, Majestic chief executive, said that challenges remained, but added: "From now on we are confident that future sales growth will translate to profit growth. The step change in fixed costs is complete."

Majestic Wine has 210 outlets in the UK and two in France. Its Naked Wines business operates in the UK, the US and Australia.