Majestic Wine steps up expansion

The company, which has 165 stores across the UK, said it wanted to expand to at least 330 stores at a rate of 12 a year, after it saw like-for-like sales growth of 5.3 per cent in the last financial year.

The group, which cut the minimum order size from 12 bottles to six in 2009, saw strong growth in sales of Argentinian and New Zealand wines, as well as Italian sparkling wine Prosecco, while fine wines, priced £20 per bottle and above, were up 23.7 per cent.

Majestic recorded profits of £20.3 million in the year to March 28, up 26 per cent from £16 million the previous year, with total sales up 10.3 per cent at £257.3 million.

David Jeary, an analyst at broker Investec, said Majestic’s forecast-beating results were down to the “positive reaction” of customers to the reduction in the minimum purchase quantity from 12 to six bottles.