LONDON (Alliance News) - Conviviality PLC on Monday said it swung to a loss in the first half of its financial year due to costs associated with the acquisition of drinks supplier Matthew Clark, but revenue grew during the period with a strong performance over the key Christmas trading weeks.
The alcohol and soft drinks wholesaler said it made a GBP4.0 million pretax loss in the 27 weeks ended November 1, following the acquisition of Matthew Clark in October, having made a GBP2.7 million pretax profit in the first half of the prior year. The acquisition and integration of Matthew Clark meant it booked GBP7.3 million in exceptional costs.
Revenue, however, grew 38% to GBP252.0 million from GBP182.9 million the year before.
Conviviality added that sales in the two peak Christmas weeks to January 3 rose 13% year-on-year, as like-for-like sales were up 1.1%. Champagne and sparkling wine saw a 31% increase in sales with four bottles of prosecco sold every minute during the two weeks, the company said.
Conviviality will pay an interim dividend of 2.1 pence, up from 2.0p the year before.
"With Matthew Clark we now have a firm foundation in the expansive on-trade market from which to build on, and our success over the important Christmas period gives us confidence that the second half will deliver further growth," Chief Executive Diana Hunter said in a statement.
Last week, Conviviality revealed the appointment of Argos's Chief Operating Officer David Robinson as the managing director of Conviviality Retail. Also on January 4, Booker Group PLC's Mark Aylwin joined Conviviality as managing director of Matthew Clark.
By Karolina Kaminska; karolinakaminska@alliancenews.com @KarolinaAllNews
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