Wine Industry Hit By Falling Margins

A reduction in demand for wine and champagne in the UK has hit profits at the country's leading wine warehouse operator Majestic Wine Plc. The firm reported a 22% decline in earnings for the 12 months to March 30 with underlying pre-tax profits coming in at GBP12.7mn compared to GBP16.4mn in the previous year. Majestic's total sales increased by 2.4% but sales in the UK fell by 2.7% on a like-for-like basis. The firm has reported that its sales in the 10 weeks to June 2008 picked up, with like-for-like growth of 2%. However, with BMI forecasting that wine sales

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