Majestic celebrates ‘stellar’ Christmas
Majestic “significantly” outperformed retail booze sales in December, reporting its best ever Christmas trading, the tenth consecutive year it has seen sales rise.
Against a background of falling off-trade alcohol sales across the wider grocery market (down 4.1% during December, Worldpanel by Numerator reported (formerly Kantar Worldpanel) reported), sales at Majestic rose 0.9% in the five weeks to 29 December 2025. It also reported the number of customers shopping in its stores up 10.9%, boosted by the opening of five new stores in 2025.
There was also growth in its on-trade arm, it said, with Majestic Commercial supplying nearly 200 new gastropubs, bars, restaurants and hospitality venues compared to the same period last year, and seeing its biggest ever week of sales to independent free trade operators.
Drilling down into the sales data, Majestic noted sales of fine wine up 4.8% year-on-year, with French wines also seeing a 4% boost, and Champagne and sparkling enjoying a 2.6% uplift. Rosé also saw growth with sales up 5% across the five weeks. Meanwhile English wines jumped 27% compared to the same period in 2024, and wines from more esoteric and off-the-beaten track regions, such as Greece, Germany, Austria and Hungary, also saw double-digit growth of 14%.
Majestic retail managing director Elizabeth Newman said that to achieve what the retailer did in a retail alcohol market that had declined 4.1% demonstrated “the strength of the Majestic proposition”.
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“At a time when customers are moderating their alcohol spend but seeking out better quality wines, beers and spirits, it’s clear that Majestic’s differentiated product range, expert advice and market-leading service continues to be a winning combination,” she said.
In line with expectations
Majestic Wine group executive chairman and CEO John Colley added that the “excellent” Christmas performance capped off a “stellar year of transformation and strategic progress”, which saw the company report an increase in both its revenue and profitability in line with expectations.
“Following our purchase of the leading wines and spirits distributor Enotria and the creation of the Majestic Wine Group, we have also invested heavily in opening three new Vagabond bars, including the UK’s largest Urban Winery, as well as five new Majestic stores,” he said. “We’re heading into 2026 with good momentum and confidence that our strategic plan will continue to deliver growth across the Group.”
Earlier this month, the specialist retailer reported revenues of £386.236 million in the 12 months to 31 March 2025, a rise of 0.2% year-on-year during a year “marked by a challenging economic outlook for retail and hospitality”. Although gross profits were up by 2%, adjusted EBITDA fell from £21.362m to £18.098m in the period, and operating profits were down 26% to £16.02 million. This was due to the combined impact of customs duty rate hikes; a rise in national minimum wage; the loss of the key Easter trading period; a wet spring and early summer that hampered bulk party wine sales, as well as cost of opening and closing stores.
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