HOTC.L Regulatory News (HOTC)

19 January 2021

HOTEL CHOCOLAT GROUP PLC

("Hotel Chocolat", the "Company" or the "Group")

Trading Update

Hotel Chocolat Group plc, a premium British chocolatier and omni-channel retailer, today announces the following trading update for the 13-week and 26-week periods ended 27 December 2020.

Total Group revenue for the 13-week period increased 19 per cent compared to the prior year.

Total Group revenue for the 26-week period increased 11 per cent compared to the prior year.

In the UK, the Hotel Chocolat brand flexed its multichannel model to respond to the strong demand from its loyal, direct customer base. Online growth more than offset the impact of the temporary closures of physical retail due to COVID restrictions.

In the USA, the Hotel Chocolat brand was able to adapt rapidly and pivot the multichannel business model to deliver year-on-year growth of 19 per cent in the 13-week period, and 8 per cent in the 26-week period.

In Japan, having opened a further 12 outlets during the half year, the joint venture is now operating from 18 locations, with a substantially increased e-commerce database (sales to the Japanese joint venture are currently reported by the Group as wholesale revenues).

Trading since December continues to be in line with management's expectations, despite materially higher investments in the acceleration of our digital and international growth plan, and ongoing pandemic-related response costs.

The Board expects to announce the Group's results for the six months ended 27 December 2020 on 2 March 2021.

Angus Thirlwell, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, said:

"The strength of the brand and our ability to flex our multichannel model meant that despite the challenging environment every business and every family has faced, we were able to keep on delivering chocolat happiness, launch new products and deliver strong sales growth.

"The growth momentum stepped up in Japan and the USA, and we have seen that it's underpinned by what the Hotel Chocolat brand brings that is differentiated and exciting to these mega markets. Encouragingly, we have also made significant progress in the period in building an operational platform for future growth.

"We accelerated several of our digital growth initiatives over the last year and can clearly see the huge potential ahead. Whilst there is still further near-term pandemic-related uncertainty, and ongoing increased costs in reacting to it, I am increasingly confident that in the medium-term we can deliver significant further growth in the UK, USA and Japan.

"We are hugely grateful to both our new and long-term direct customers who have made all this possible and to the worldwide Hotel Chocolat family for the exceptional team effort that drove these results whilst always upholding the Hotel Chocolat brand values."

Enquiries:

Notes to Editors:

Hotel Chocolat is a premium British chocolatier with a strong and distinctive brand. The business was founded in 1993 by Angus Thirlwell and Peter Harris and has traded under the Hotel Chocolat brand since 2003. The Group sells its products online and through a network of locations in the UK, Japan and USA. The Group has an organic cacao farm and hotel in Saint Lucia, offering a complete brand immersion thorough tree-to-bar experiences and wellness treatments. The Group also has a flagship restaurant and cocoa roastery in London's Borough Market: Rabot restaurant. The Group was admitted to trading on AIM in 2016.