Majestic Wine sales go flat in ‘challenging’ trade

Wine store Majestic Wine today said its annual profits will be broadly in line with last year after the tough consumer environment took the fizz out of its sales.

The firm had enjoyed a 2.8 per cent rise in like-for-like sales over the key festive season, but chief executive Steve Lewis said it has been hit by “challenging trading conditions” since then.

He added: “With two weeks to go until our year end we now expect like for like sales to be flat for the financial year as a whole.”

Lewis also said Majestic plans to invest in new office space and a larger warehouse to support its ambitions of growing its store network to more than 300, and this spending would dent profit growth next year.