HOTEL CHOCOLAT USA UPDATE
HOTEL CHOCOLAT USA FULL

The strategies we put in place two years ago are now delivering accelerated growth.

HOTEL CHOCOLAT USA FULL

The Hotel Chocolat group will now repay the full £3.1m that it received in the financial year.Īngus Thirlwell, co-founder and chief executive of Hotel Chocolat, says: “I am fortunate to be able to say that the growth avenues ahead of us have never been better in Hotel Chocolat’s history. In March 2020 the retailer raised £22m a new equity and it has now invested that in digital, in expanding its UK chocolate factory in preparation for adding three more production lines next year, and in more than doubling the size of its distribution centre from 113,000 sq ft to 207,000 sq ft. Hotel Chocolat now expects that to continue to improve in the coming months. Since its stores reopened on April 12, Hotel Chocolat says that trading has been strong in smaller cities and market towns, making up for lower footfall in commuter and tourist locations. Now that its stores are open, the retailer has negotiated down 30% of store rents, either with rent fixed at a lower amount or a reduced percentage of sales – and says that the remaining 70% of leases will come up for renewal or expire in the 24 months. Over the last 18 months Hotel Chocolat’s UK customer database has grown by 66% to three million, and it says that digital and subscription sales are now a “substantially larger proportion of the group’s total revenue and have remained so after full store channel reopening.” Customer lifetime value has risen along with visits, conversions and average order values and the retailer says its customer engagement is supported by digital and subscription working together “brand-building” stores. Product sales in the US grew by 62%, with more than 75% of sales through its US website, while sales at its Japanese joint venture partnership grew by 277% on the previous year. In the 10 weeks from April 19 to June 27, group sales grew by 34% compared to the same period in 2019 ad by 63% compared to the same period in 2020, when all shops were shut. The retailer says trading has stayed strong now that all of its sales channels are open. That’s up by 21% compared to the previous year to June 2020, and by 24% compared to pre-pandemic 2019, and the retailer expects that pre-tax profits will beat previous expectations.

HOTEL CHOCOLAT USA UPDATE

In a trading update today, the retailer says its full-year revenue will come in at £165m in its latest full year, to June 27. Hotel Chocolat has heralded a 21% rise in full-year sales and says that the combination of digital, subscription and in-store sales is helping it to grow customer engagement and lifetime value.

Hotel chocolat usa