Hotel Chocolat posts uplift in sales and profit
Hotel Chocolat increased its pre-tax profit before IFRS 16 by 7% to £14.9 million in the six months to 29 December.
In addition, revenue climbed by 14.7% to £91.7 million after the retailer opened nine new stores in the UK. It also launched two further stores in the US to take the total to four, as well as three new locations in Japan via a joint venture partner in the country.
Angus Thirlwell, co-founder and chief executive of Hotel Chocolat, said: “This was another strong period for Hotel Chocolat. Our new store openings contributed three percentage points of the growth in the period, with the remaining balance coming from existing locations, digital and wholesale channels. While our new markets in the US and Japan are still in the early stages of development, consumer response to the brand is encouraging, sales are growing, and we believe we have a deliverable plan to achieve attractive returns.”
Hotel Chocolat was also successful in growing its VIP membership scheme where the number of active members surged by 120% to 1.1 million. The company also invested in product innovation and its digital proposition and supply chain.
Thirlwell added: “Our strong growth came from a wider variety of sales channels than in previous years, which led to some initial challenges in our supply chain. We are now making good progress with investments and upgrades in our supply chain which will fully address these inefficiencies and increase our international and multichannel supply capability, ensuring we continue to deliver profitable growth.”
