• Sales up 38% to £252m in 27 weeks to November 1 
  • Conviviality Retail - including Bargain Booze - sales up 0.4%
  • Conviviality acquired Matthew Clark last month

Conviviality has reported a 38% jump in half-year sales helped by the acquisition of drinks wholesaler Matthew Clark.

Sales in the 27 weeks to November hit £252m, which included revenue from the newly-acquired wholesaler. The deal, which completed last month, has seen Conviviality drop the word ‘retail’ from its name.

Conviviality’s retail arm, which operates Bargain Booze and Wine Rack, saw its own sales up 0.4% in the period to £191m. Like-for-likes slipped 1.3%.

However like-for-likes at Wine Rack increased 5.3%, with more store openings planned for the rest of the year.

At distributor Matthew Clark, which supplies 17,000 hotels, bars, restaurants and venues, sales rose to £61m from the £59m the same period last year.

Conviviality chief executive Diana Hunter said: We have had a transformational first half of the year which culminated in the successful acquisition of Matthew Clark.

“It is still early days in our ownership of this business however the integration is progressing well and we are pleased to have gained such a passionate and talented team.”

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