The British public's renewed love affair with the vine has helped wine warehouse chain Majestic post its eleventh consecutive year of record profits. Majestic, which has 115 stores, said pre-tax profits of £10.6 million were 27 per cent higher than a year ago, while trading remained strong in 2004. New customers helped to lift like-for-like sales by ten per cent to £148.3 million during the year to March 29, outpacing the UK wine market which is growing at six per cent. Chief executive Tim How said this trend had continued into the new financial year with same-store sales ahead by eight per cent. The company has six stores in the Midlands, with outlets in Sutton Coldfield, Stourbridge, Wolverhampton, Worcester, and two in Birmingham. Majestic, based in Watford, Hertfordshire, has been further boosted by its store opening programme, which it believes could result in 175 UK outlets. That follows openings in the past year in Uxbridge, Kendal, Warrington and Roehampton. New stores are also planned in Marlborough, Chippenham, and in the centre of London at Covent Garden. "I believe that Majestic is in a good position to continue to grow strongly in an expanding wine market," Mr How said. Growth is also being targeted in sales of fine wines following the opening of a distribution base in St John's Wood, London, which can stock more than 200 different brands. Sales of wines costing more than £20 grew by 29 per cent during the year and now account for 1.6 per cent of total sales in the UK. The company expected this share to double over the next couple of years as it taps the drinking habits of affluent customers around the country. Group sales were boosted by new business with the number of people using its mailing list increasing by 10.5 per cent during the year to 325,000. Mr How said the average bottle price of still wine purchased at Majestic was £5.40, more than a third higher than the market. Customers spend an average of £107 per transaction, compared with £104 a year earlier. Promotional activity was helping to drive sales this summer with more than 400 offers in store, including a multibuy deal for a case of champagne and 15 per cent off wines from Italy and Chile. The company added that it was pleased with growth across the Channel with demand from UK shoppers pushing sales at its two Calais stores and Cherbourg ahead by 12 per cent. Mr How said sales of wine from the Loire region in southern France, South Africa, Chile and New Zealand had seen particularly good growth during the year. Champagne, ros» and beer sales also grew strongly, it said. Mr How said: "We have made a good start to this summer's promotional period which started in early May and continues through to the end of August." He added the company was continuing to invest in its estate, with £4.8 million spent on new store roll outs and refitting existing outlets during the year. He said: "Since the year end we have opened our 115th store in Inverness which is a new build. Several more new stores are at advanced stages of negotiation. "We are pleased with our store opening programme and now envisage being able to enlarge Majestic to more than 175 locations in the UK." Shares closed down 121/2p at 850p | 
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