(Alliance News) - Hotel Chocolat Group PLC on Wednesday announced a fall in half-year profit and revenue as people spent less on its chocolate products in the UK and Ireland.
The Hertfordshire, England-based chocolate maker said pretax profit in the six months to December 25 fell 59% to GBP8.3 million from GBP20.4 million a year prior. Revenue declined 9.2% to GBP129.8 million from GBP142.9 million.
It noted that half-year sales in the UK & Ireland fell 5.4% to GBP127.4 million from GBP134.7 million.
"It is telling that there are progressively fewer successful chocolate store models in the UK and elsewhere. It is a difficult model to develop, with extensive protective attributes acquired in the process," the company said.
Looking ahead, Hotel Chocolat said it is trading in line with market expectations for sales, but remains cautious about consumer sentiment over Mother's Day, Easter, Eid and Father's Day, when people could buy chocolate as presents.
For the year ending late December 2023, it expects to swing to a pretax profit of between GBP4 million and GBP7 million, swung from a loss of GBP8.7 million in financial year 2022, and similar to a profit of GBP5.5 million in financial 2021.
For financial years 2024 and 2025, Hotel Chocolat anticipates a return to sales and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation growth with a target of a 20% Ebitda margin in financial year 2025.
Hotel Chocolat shares were 1.0% lower at 205.00 pence each in London on Wednesday afternoon.
By Tom Budszus, Alliance News reporter
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