Majestic chief executive Steve Lewis said it was “very much our time” as the wine specialist reported pre-tax profits up 26.6% to £20.3m in the year to March 28.

He said Majestic was growing despite a stagnant wine market. Total sales jumped 10.3% to £257.3m, and UK like-for-likes were up 5.3%.

Lewis pointed out the still wine market in general was broadly flat in terms of value growth, up just 1.6%, and 2.9% down in volume. In comparison, Majestic still wine value growth is up 10.7%, and volume growth up 4.9%.

With the demise of competitors such as Oddbins and the First Quench group, Lewis said “there is nowhere else you can buy specialist wine apart from Majestic”.

He said Majestic differed from competitors that have hit the wall because it did not operate on high streets with high rents, its staff and database were “second to none” and the specialism and quality of its wines was always the focus.

With the change in minimum order from 12 bottles to six, Lewis said the retailer had widened its customer demographic. It has 165 stores in the UK and now estimates its store portfolio could reach 330.

Majestic online sales were up 9.6% to £21.1m, representing 10.2% of its UK retail sales.

Oriel Securities analyst Ben Hunt recommended buy and said: “Majestic has a proven track record of growing market share and the store roll-out programme should ensure double-digit earnings growth over the long term.”

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