(Alliance News) - Retailer and chocolate maker Hotel Chocolat Group PLC declared an unchanged dividend on Tuesday as it reported a rise in revenue and profit in the first half of its financial year.
The stock was trading 9.0% higher at 419.80 pence each on Tuesday morning in London.
For the 26 weeks ended December 29, revenue rose 14% to GBP91.7 million from GBP80.7 million in the year prior. Pretax profit rose 8.2% to GBP15.0 million from GBP13.8 million.
The growth in revenue was attributed to the opening of nine new locations bringing the total number of UK sites to 125, as well an increase in retail, wholesale and digital sales.
"This was another strong period for Hotel Chocolat. Our new store openings contributed three percentage points of the growth in the period, with the remaining balance coming from existing locations, digital and wholesale channels," said Chief Executive Angus Thirwell.
Hotel Chocolat proposed an interim dividend of 0.6 pence per share, unchanged from the year prior.
The Royston-headquartered business said that trading in its current financial year ending June 30 has remained in line with expectations.
It noted "encouraging" performance at its new locations and said there is a future pipeline of similar potential locations. It also added that the Velvetiser hot chocolate system and the VIP Me loyalty card scheme performed well with both offering "significant" future growth potential.
Looking ahead Thirwell said: "Delivery against the four-point strategy will result in top-line growth and improve profitability in the UK, enabling the group to invest in the growing new markets of US and Japan.
Hotel Chocolat said an international rollout is in line with its strategy, noting the launch of two new locations in the US and three in Japan.
By Ife Taiwo; ifetaiwo@alliancenews.com
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