Majestic Wine hails ‘transformative year’ as revenues rise

Majestic Wine has reported an increase in both its revenue and profitability in line with expectations, after a “transformational” year for the business.

The specialist retailer reported revenues of £386.236 million in the 12 months to 31 March 2025, in financial records filed at Companies House – a 0.2% rise year-on-year in a year marked by a challenging economic outlook for retail and hospitality. There was also a bump in gross profit, which rose 2 percentage points on last year’s figures, to £91.1million.

However, adjusted EBITDA fell from £21.362m to £18.098m, albeit in line with expectations, and operating profits were down 26% to £16.02 million. This was impacted by increased costs off the back of the rise in customs duty rates as well as the hike in the national minimum wage which affected salary costs. Other notable impacts to this sum included the loss of the key Easter trading – the retailer’s second largest season after Christmas – due to the timing of the four-day weekend; and the cost of opening and closing stores. Wet weather in the spring and early summer also hampered sales of bulk party wine and rose sales.

There was also the acquisition of the Vagabond wine bar business for £6.5m to consider, with costs association with the purchase amounting to £2.3m. The group  also incurred some pre-acquisition costs ahead of its purchase of wines and spirits distributor Enotria, although these was completed two weeks after the year-end.

Transformative

The recent acquisitions are likely to boost Majestic Wine Group’s annual sales to over £500m, the company said, having already seen annual turnover rise from £300m in 2020 (when Fortress acquired the group) to £386m to March 2025. Over this time, operating profit has grown from £4m to £16m.

Majestic Wine Group executive chairman and CEO John Colley called it “a transformative year” for the business, and its year-on-year revenue growth reflected the investments the retailer had made in its growth strategy.

“We opened six new Majestic stores, acquired the Vagabond wine bar business, and laid the foundations for three experiential new bars in prime London locations, which opened in the autumn,” he pointed out. “Shortly following the year-end, we also completed the acquisition of premium wines and spirits distributor Enotria, re-positioning Majestic as the UK’s largest premium end-to-end drinks specialist across retail, wholesale and hospitality.

“Our investment strategy is working, and we are incredibly excited about the future opportunities we have to grow our business further and help even more consumers discover new wines, beers and spirits they will love.”

Among the milestones it highlighted the opening of six new Majestic stores, including the first outlet in Jersey, investing in an extensive refurbishment of Vagabond’s Battersea Power Station flagship; serving more than 800 new on-trade venues through the Majestic Commercial B2B business.

 

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