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Hotel Chocolat has reported a fall in revenues in the half-year ended 25 December 2022, falling from £142m last year to £129m, with its underlying PBT dropping to £10.2m in H1 from £25.4m in the same period last year.
In addition, the retailer also reported that its underlying operating profit had dropped from £26m last year to just £12m.
As a result, the group remains “cautious” ahead of key holidays Mother’s Day and Easter due to consumer spending trends since the rise in living costs.
However, the group saw a 7% like-for-like increase in UK retail in the half-year, and reported record Christmas campaign sales with its strongest sell at full price seasonal products yet.
Angus Thirlwell, co-founder and CEO of Hotel Chocolat, said: “This strong sales performance from Hotel Chocolat stores, underpinned by our scaled database, is a result of hefty investments we continue to make into our brand. Investing in more cacao and less sugar in our recipes, funding nature positive cacao farming and championing British-made quality and design flair.
“Over the last three years, we have increased retail like-for-likes by 25% through product innovation and improving the quality of our database marketing.”
He added: “We have announced the opening of a further 50 UK locations over the next three to five years, with the first wave planned this Autumn. Our new ‘store of the future’ design has succeeded against its objectives in test locations and so will be rolled out in these new locations.”
