Hotel Chocolat ‘on front foot again’ amid strong sales at new UK shops

The boss of Hotel Chocolat said the retailer is “on the front foot” ahead of Christmas amid strong trading at its new shops.

Shares in the chocolate shop chain moved higher as a result on Thursday morning.

However, shares remain almost a quarter lower for the past six months after two profit warnings earlier this year.

In its latest update, the firm posted a loss and declining sales for the year to July but provided an upbeat tone for shareholders.

Hotel Chocolat said it has made “significant progress” in its strategy to improve performance and hailed strong trade at its UK shops.

Revenues from its UK stores grew by 14% over the 13 weeks to October 2, with like-for-like growth of 13%.

It said it has opened four new stores since the financial year began in July, as part of 12 planned openings, and stressed the latest shops are “outperforming expectations”.

Hotel Chocolat also said it has seen a “strong” improvement in profit margins due to reduced discounting and price increases.

Restructuring efforts from last year have also helped to bring down its costs against the previous year.

Angus Thirlwell, co-founder and chief executive, said: “Hotel Chocolat is on the front foot again. The hard, foundational work we put in last year is now starting to deliver the results for us.

“Our new store format is trading well above our expectations, with 12 new locations planned to open in the next year.

“Our ongoing stores continue to perform strongly, benefiting from a raft of exciting new products, the resumption of in-store tasting and our unique Love March offer which reflects human individuality to closely match it across our Hotel Chocolat range.

“Trading in our railway station stores has rebounded as traveller numbers have increased.”

It came as the retail firm posted a £6.9 million pre-tax loss for the year to July 3, narrowing from a £8.7 million loss a year earlier.

Meanwhile, revenues fell by around 10% to £204.5 million for the year.