Marketing campaign costs Majestic Wine

The wine retailer said it was reviewing its commercial division after seeing sales flat-line and pressure on its profit margins as the first half proved “even more challenging”.

Earnings in the division could be around £2m lower than expected, Majestic cautioned.

The group’s woes have been compounded by its Naked Wines online business, bought in April last year for £70m, which is set to suffer a small loss after taking a hit on a failed direct mail campaign in the United States.

It will see the division slip back into the red after making a surprise maiden profit in the last financial year.

Majestic said overall group earnings for the year to April 3 2017 are set to come in lower than City expectations.

Rowan Gormley, chief executive of Majestic Wines, said: “It is very disappointing that two isolated factors are distracting from the great progress across the rest of the group.”