Majestic CEO Rowan Gormley

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Majestic Wine (WINE) has announced that Naked Wines has achieved a “record” £100m in sales since March 31 2015.

The company’s now has more than 300,000 ‘mature’ angels – customers who have been customers for over four months - supporting more than 100 independent winemakers in 14 countries.

Majestic said: “Reaching this key target highlights the continued success that Naked Wines has demonstrated since its launch in 2008 by focusing on its online social distribution model to deliver service, quality and authenticity to customers passionate about wine.”

Achieving £100m sales is in line with market expectations for Naked Wines for the financial year ending 28 March 2016.

Chief executive Rowan Gormley commented: “Hitting this latest milestone proves once again that crowd-funded, social wine distribution can deliver brilliant outcomes for all our stakeholders at the same time – from those who pick the grapes to those who discover and drink our wines.

“We will continue to invest in Naked Wines and remain very excited about the opportunities ahead for the whole group.”

Morning update

Specialist sports nutrition brand Science in Sport (SIS) saw losses edge up last year but revenues increased 18% to £9.45m. SIS said the revenue growth was primarily due to strong online sales and growth in international markets. It recorded an underlying operating loss of £250k, which was up from £190k last year, but in line with expectations and reflected investment in brand awareness, e-commerce and development of Australian and US market entry strategies. New product development accounted for 46% of its growth in the year.

Stephen Moon, Science in Sport’s CEO, said: “This was another year of continued strong revenue improvement and, we believe, we led the endurance nutrition sector in growth. We have invested heavily in marketing and innovation, with the benefits evident in both revenue growth and sharply improved brand awareness.

“Our model is working, as consistent investment in the brand and development of our e-commerce operation results in top line growth. This is underpinned by close attention to gross margin and tight control of overheads. We remain very confident in our strategy and believe we will continue to deliver sector leading growth.”

Majestic Wine shares have edged down 0.4% to 430.7p after today’s announcement, while Science in Sport shares are up 3.1% to 54.5p.

The FTSE 100 has dropped 0.9% to 6,127.5p this morning after The US Federal Reserve suggested US rate increases might be around the corner and worries over a suspected terror attack this morning at Brussels airport.

Airlines and travel firms are worst hit this morning on the news emerging from Belgium. International fmcg firms are amongst those grocery firms most affected, with Diageo (DGE) down 1.4% to 1,842p, Unilever (ULVR) down 1.4% to 3,056p and Reckitt Benckiser (RB) down 1.4% to 6,551p.

Yesterday in the City

Sainsbury’s (SBRY) investors seemed a little underwhelmed by its bid for Home Retail (HOME) on Friday as the supermarket’s shares headed down once details of the bid emerged. However, market sentiment seems to have improved with Sainsbury’s shares up 1.2% yesterday to 276.5p after Sainsbury’s boss Mike Coupe was able to provide more details of the bid after the market closed on Friday.

Tesco (TSCO) was also up yesterday, rising 1.3% to 197.5p, but Morrisons (MRW) ended the day 0.5% down to 200.2p and Marks & Spencer (MKS) was 1.2% down to 412.2p.

Ocado (OCDO) had yet another volatile day as market rumour it was close to securing a vital international partnership send the shares up to 296.6p in early trading, before the shares fell away to end the day 2.9% down at 288.9p.

AG Barr began clawing back some of the lost ground after last week’s sugar tax announcement, rising 2% to 518p.

Other risers including Paypoint (PAY), up 2% to 780p, Poundland (PLND) up 1.6% to 176p and Premier Foods (PFD), up 1.6% to 31.5p. McColl’s Retail Group (MCLS) dropped 2.1% to 159.8p and Coca Cola HBC was 1.2% down to 1,436.1p.

On a less than dramatic day overall in the City, the FTSE 100 edged down 0.1% to 6,184.6pts.

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