Naked Wine Regulatory News (WINE)

INTERIM RESULTS

'Profit up 4.2%, dividend increased 5.0%'

Majestic Wine PLC ("Majestic"), the UK's largest wine specialist, today announces its interim results for the 26 weeks ended 30 September 2013.

Financial

· Group profit before tax increased by 4.2% to £9.5m (2012: £9.2m).

· Diluted earnings per share up 5.8% to 11.0p (2012: 10.4p).

· Interim dividend increased 5.0% to 4.2p per share (2012: 4.0p).

· Total sales up 3.3% to £130.2m (2012: £126.0m).

· Like for like sales in UK retail stores down 0.4% as impacted by timing of Easter and last year's Jubilee celebrations.

· Like for like sales in UK retail stores are up 3.0% for the following seventeen weeks from 4 June 2013 to the end of the half.

· Majestic Wine Calais: profit before interest and tax at £660k (2012: £817k).

· Lay & Wheeler: profit before interest and tax at £575k (2012: £506k).

Key Metrics

· Increase in active customers, up 6.2% to 631,000.

· Online sales increased 8.3% on last year and now represent 10.3% of UK retail sales.

· Three new stores opened in period and three since the end of September bring total number of stores to 198.

· Commercial (B2B) sales up 8.6%, now 21.7% of total UK sales.

New Developments

· New website successfully launched with improved click and collect functionality.

· Opening 200thstore in Petersfield in November.

· Sales of Prosecco up 39%.

Commenting on the results Steve Lewis, Chief Executive, said:

"These results show we continue to make steady progress towards our strategic growth objectives and we are very well prepared for the peak Christmas trading period."

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Chairman's Statement

The Group has made steady progress in the first half of the financial year. Profit before tax for the six month period ended 30 September 2013 was £9.5m, an increase of 4.2% on the first half of the previous financial year. Total Group revenues increased 3.3% to £130.2m.

Our ongoing investment in new stores, consumer facing technologies and development of our people has continued to attract considerable numbers of new customers. Majestic has a clear strategy to deliver growth from the expansion of the store estate, increasing revenue from business customers, growing ecommerce transactions and developing sales of fine wine. Accordingly the Board is pleased to declare an increase of 5.0% in the interim dividend to 4.2p per share. The dividend will be paid on 3 January 2014 to shareholders on the register at the close of business on 6 December 2013.

Phil Wrigley

Chairman

18 November 2013

Business Review

Majestic Wine

Sales through the store network were £112.0m up 3.0% on last year. Like for like sales declined 0.4% as they were adversely impacted by the timing of Easter and the boost given the previous first half by the Jubilee celebrations. In the seventeen week period post these difficult comparatives, from 4 June 2013 to the end of the first half, like for like sales growth was a more representative 3.0%. The number of customers on our database who have purchased in the last twelve months has shown good growth, up 6.2% to 631,000. The average spend per transaction at our stores has risen £1 to £127 and the average bottle price of still wine purchased at Majestic is £7.71 up from £7.46 last year.

Commercial

Total sales to business customers grew by 8.6% to £25.6m and now represent 21.7% of total UK sales. We have a regional sales team whose role is to secure restaurant, gastro pub and hotel business with all subsequent logistics handled by the nearest Majestic store. Additionally in London we have a dedicated office and depot near King's Cross that sells to larger business customers in the City and West End.

Ecommerce

In July we successfully launched the third generation of our website on a new platform. This provides us with the infrastructure to handle expected future growth through the online channel. The site delivers a much enhanced customer experience including an improved click and collect proposition. Improved functionality now enables us to display local stock availability which gives customers a greater range to choose from and improves our operational efficiency. We have seen good growth in online sales, up 8.3% on the same period last year and they now represent 10.3% of total UK retail sales.

New Stores

During the half year we opened in Havant, Lytham St Annes and Durham. In addition we also re-sited our store in north Leeds. Since the end of the period we have opened in Grantham, Maidenhead and Lichfield bringing the total number of stores trading to 198. We are delighted that before the end of November we will open in Lewes followed by our 200th store in Petersfield. We are pleased with the progress made in our opening program and remain confident of being able to expand the UK store portfolio to 330 locations.

Fine Wine

During the period we consolidated our range of fine wine to reduce the number of lines stocked and concentrate on names that are recognisable to consumers. The new range has been supported by a strong price promotion. The result has been very encouraging with sales of still wine priced at £20 per bottle and above growing 15.6% to £7.4m

Majestic Wine Calais

This business operates from two locations in Calais selling to UK consumers wishing to take advantage of the much lower rate of alcohol duty in France. Profit before interest and tax for the period was £660k down from £817k recorded in the first half of the previous year. We guarantee that customers will save a minimum of £2 per bottle on prices that we retail in the UK. The business is well suited to those customers who are organising events and we encourage them to order either online or over the telephone for collection in France and together these account for 42% of sales.

Lay & Wheeler

Lay & Wheeler is our fine wine specialist with particular expertise in the fields of en primeur sales, cellarage and broking of customer reserves. Profit before interest and tax for the period was up 13.6% to £575k. The main activity during the Summer was selling the Bordeaux 2012 vintage which was similar in quality and scale to the 2011 campaign.

People

Majestic is most clearly differentiated from the competition by the excellent customer service delivered by our highly trained and motivated teams. This has been recognised with our winning both 'High Street Chain of the Year' at the International Wine Challenge and 'Best National Wine Merchant' at Decanter World Wine Awards.

Steve Lewis

Chief Executive

18 November 2013

Group Income Statement

For the 26 weeks ended 30 September 2013

Group Statement of Comprehensive Income

For the 26 weeks ended 30 September 2013

Group Statement of Changes in Equity

For the 26 weeks ended 30 September 2013

Group Balance Sheet

As at 30 September 2013

Group Cash Flow Statement

For the 26 weeks ended 30 September 2013

Notes to the Group Interim Financial Statements

1. General Information

Majestic Wine PLC is a public limited company ("Company") incorporated in the United Kingdom under the Companies Act 2006 (registration number 2281640). The Company is domiciled in the United Kingdom and its registered address is Majestic House, Otterspool Way, Watford, WD25 8WW. The Company's Ordinary Shares are traded on the Alternative Investment Market ("AIM"). Copies of the Interim Report are being sent to shareholders. Further copies of the Interim Report and Annual Report and Accounts may be obtained from the address above.

The Group's principal activity is the retailing of wines, beers and spirits.

2. Basis of preparationThe interim financial statements of the Group for the 26 weeks ended 30 September 2013, which are unaudited, have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in the annual report and accounts for the 52 weeks ended 1 April 2013.The Board is currently of the opinion that the Group's forecasts and projections, taking account of reasonably possible changes in trading performance, show that the Group is able to operate within its current uncommitted borrowing facilities. The Board is satisfied that the Group has adequate financial resources to continue to operate for the foreseeable future and is financially sound. For this reason, the going concern basis is considered appropriate for the preparation of financial statements.

The financial information contained in the interim report does not constitute statutory accounts as defined in Section 434 of the Companies Act 2006. The financial information for the full preceding year is based on the statutory accounts for the 52 weeks ended 1 April 2013. The report of the auditors, Ernst & Young LLP, on those financial statements was unqualified, did not contain an emphasis of matter paragraph and did not contain any statement under Section 498(2) or (3) of the Companies Act 2006. These accounts have been delivered to the Registrar of Companies.

As permitted, this interim report has been prepared in accordance with UK listing rules and not in accordance with IAS 34 "Interim Financial Reporting" - therefore it is not fully in compliance with IFRS.

The interim financial statements are presented in sterling and all values are rounded to the nearest thousand pounds (£000) except when otherwise indicated.

3. Segment reporting

The Group's operations are organised into three distinct business units each operating in a separate segment of the overall wine market. Majestic Wine Warehouses is a UK based wine retailer, Lay & Wheeler is a specialist in the fine wine market and Majestic Wine Calais operates retail units in northern France servicing the UK cross-channel market.

No operating segments have been aggregated to form the above reportable segments. Management monitors the operating results of the businesses separately for the purpose of making decisions about resource allocation and performance assessment. Segment performance is evaluated on both sales growth and profit before interest.In the information provided to the chief operating decision maker, the underlying performance of the Lay & Wheeler operating segment is evaluated and measured based on revenue and profit being recognised on orders, cash receipts and payments from en primeur campaigns. Management reviews the business on this alternative basis as resources utilised in generating these sales are expensed as incurred. This differs from the revenue recognition policy required under IAS 18 where revenue is recognised on delivery which may be up to two years later. As a result a reconciling item is presented between the total operating segments revenue and results and the IFRS statutory measure.

Financing (including finance costs and finance revenue) and income taxes are managed at a Group basis and are not allocated to operating segments. Inter-segment transactions are conducted on an arm's length basis in a manner similar to transactions with third parties.

4. Taxation

Taxation for the 26 weeks to 30 September 2013 has been calculated by applying the estimated tax rate for the financial year ending 1 April 2013 adjusted for the reduction in the rate of corporation tax to 23% from 24%, except that deferred tax assets relating to share based payments have been recalculated to reflect the change in the number of options outstanding and movement in the share price.

5. Earnings per share

Basic earnings per share is calculated on profit for the period attributable to equity shareholders of £7,253,000 (2012: £6,711,000) apportioned over the weighted average number of Ordinary Shares that were in issue for the period: 65,136,848 (2012: 63,986,446). The calculation of diluted earnings per share is in accordance with IAS 33 - Earnings Per Share. The weighted average number of Ordinary Shares in issue has been adjusted to take account of the effect of all dilutive potential Ordinary Shares. The number of shares used in the calculation was 65,769,559 (2012: 64,841,838).

6. Dividend

A dividend of 11.8p net per share was paid to shareholders on 16 August 2013. An interim dividend of 4.2p per share will be paid on 3 January 2014 to shareholders on the register at the close of business on 6 December 2013.

7. En Primeur

En primeur refers to the process of purchasing wines early before they are bottled and released onto the market. This method of purchasing gives the consumer the opportunity to secure wines that may be in limited quantity and very difficult to acquire after release. Receipts and payments for these wines may be up to two years before the wines are delivered to customers. Payments to suppliers are treated as trade receivables and receipts from customers treated as deferred income until the wines are delivered.

a) Analysis of en primeur balances

b) Movement in en primeur balances

8. Note to the cash flow statement

Reconciliation of profit to cash generated by operations

9. Reconciliation of net cash flow to movement in net debt