Majestic sees profits slide amid challenging policy landscape

By Hamish Graham

Published: 09 January, 2026

Wine retail giant Majestic has seen its profits before tax almost cut in half year on year – falling from £14.3m for FY24 to £7.7m for FY25 as detailed in its Companies House filing for the 2025 financial year (ending 31 March 2025).

In the document the company bemoaned a challenging policy environment that it believes both suppressed consumer demand and introduced a new duty regime which incurred additional IT costs for the firm.

In terms of the former, Majestic expanded: “The economic environment became more challenging during the [financial] year especially following the new government’s election in July 2024 and its budget in October 2024.

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“This all contributed to a more fragile consumer confidence, impacted by cost-of-living concerns and uncertainty over the new government’s tax policy and elevated mortgage rates, resulting in pressure on disposable incomes.”

Majestic Wine Group’s acquisition of both Vagabond during FY25, and Enotria shortly after, incurred additional costs of £2.3m, impacting its operating profit which fell from £21.7m to £16m.

The adjusted-EBITA also fell from £21.3m to £18m from FY24 to FY25, however, overall revenue saw a slight boost rising from £385m to £386m over the same period.

Taking a longer view, since the purchase of Majestic by Fortress Investment Group in late 2019, revenue has risen from approximately £300m for FY20 to this £386m figure. Operating profit over this FY20 to FY25 period has quadrupled from £4m to £16m.

Reflecting on recent changes at Majestic, Group executive chairman and CEO, John Colley believes it was a “transformative year” for the business.

He said: “We grew revenue year-on-year and our profits were in-line with expectations, reflecting the investments we made in our growth strategy. We opened six new Majestic stores, acquired the Vagabond wine bar business, and laid the foundations for three experiential new bars in prime London locations, which opened in the autumn.

“Shortly following the year-end, we also completed the acquisition of premium wines and spirits distributor Enotria, re-positioning Majestic as the UK’s largest premium end-to-end drinks specialist across retail, wholesale and hospitality.

“Our investment strategy is working, and we are incredibly excited about the future opportunities we have to grow our business further and help even more consumers discover new wines, beers and spirits they will love.”

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