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Sports nutrition specialist Science in Sport (SIS) has grown revenues by 24% in the first half of the year, driven by increased online sales and a growing presence in third party retailers.

Revenues grew from £5.2m to £6.5m in the 6 months ended 30 June 2016. SIS said international expansion delivered strong growth, including a successful launch in Australia during the period.

Some 22% of total revenues came from existing and new overseas markets

SIS added that progress has continued in leading grocery chains in the UK and major distribution gains have been secured in Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Asda in the first half.

New product development and launches contributed to 35% of revenue growth for the first half.

Gross margin of £3.8m represented a 0.7 percentage point increase to 58.9% against the same period last year.

However, continued investment in marketing, e-commerce and international expansion led to an underlying operating loss of £369k, which SIS said was in-line with expectations.

Stephen Moon, Science in Sport’s CEO, said: “We have invested heavily in digital marketing and product sampling during the first half, and the benefits are evident in the growth we are achieving, which we believe is significantly ahead of our market peers.

“International and online growth has been particularly strong and these channels will play a key role in the development of the business.

“Our strategic model continues to deliver, as consistent investment in the brand and development of our e-commerce operation results in strong top line growth. We remain very confident in our strategy and believe we will continue to deliver sector leading growth.”

Morning update

There’s little else of note on the markets this morning on a rare quiet day in what’s been a busy period for the grocery industry.

The FTSE 100 has opened up 0.6% at 6,874.9pts.

Science in Sport has opened up 1.5% to 68.75p after its interim results this morning.

Strong early movers include Real Good Food (RGD), up 7.5% to 43p, Ocado (OCDO) climbing back from a tough period, rising 2.3% to 260.3p and Majestic Wine beginning to claw back its losses from yesterday after rising 1.5% to 335p so far this morning.

Yesterday in the City

The FTSE 100 ended the day up just 0.1% up to 6,834.8pts, having reached 6.876pts in early trading before trending down as the day wore on.

The major grocery/retail story on the market yesterday was the share price collapse of Majestic Wine (WINE), which plummeted 23.9% to 330p after issuing a profits warning. Majestic said its Naked Wines business will swing back into the red this year as a result of increased marketing with an EBIT performance also approximately £2m lower than expectations.

Ocado (OCDO) was another significant faller yesterday, continuing its tough run in recent weeks as worries over the potential strength of Amazon Prime in Ocado’s south eastern heartland weighs on the shares. Ocado was down 5.3% yesterday to 254.5p.

Other fallers included Associated British Foods (ABF), down 1.3% to 2,677p, Reckitt Benckiser (RB), down 1.5% to 7.142p, Greggs (GRG), down 1.6% to 1,033p and Imperial Brands (IMB), down 2% to 3,929p.

Risers included Sainsbury’s (SBRY), up 2% to 249.4p, Morrisons (MRW), up 1.3% to 217.6p and Dairy Crest (DCG) up 1.5% to 645p.

Additionally, Hotel Chocolat (HOTC), was up 4.1% to 216.5p and Patisserie Holdings (CAKE) was up 3.6% to 333p.

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