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Lay & Wheeler pushes ahead with investment plan
Lay & Wheeler has recorded an adjusted loss of £815k for the year to 1 April 2024, as the business continued to push ahead with investment plan that include consolidating all of its wine storage and logistics operations.
According to results filed at Companies House, there was a 7.9% decrease in adjusted revenue (which takes into account en primeur sales) on 2023’s figures to £24.994m, largely due to “a sustained and significant decrease in market pricing” during the period, leading to reduced revenue on like for like sales “despite increasing customer volumes and interactions”, it noted.
The adjusted revenue and profit are used to as key financial indicators to reflect an accurate picture of the company financial performance by excluding non-recurring items and events. Meanwhile, gross profits rose from £4.108m in 2023 to £4.385m in the 12 months to 1 April 2024, however the company recorded an operating loss of £1.533m for the year.
Reported turnover at the company was recorded at £28.154m, up from £27.573m in 2023.
The results follow a relatively flat couple of years for Lay & Wheeler, which saw operating profits in 2023 hit by the consolidation of its wine storage and logistics in-house “in line with pre-year expectations”, the company stated at the time.
However, it should be noted that Lay & Wheeler’s turnover has nearly doubled since being bought by private family group Coterie Holdings in October 2019, rising from £15.27m in the year to April 2019 to £28.154m in 2024.
Coterie Holdings also counts Coterie Vaults, fine wine valuation and lending specialists Jera, UK wine importer Hallgarten & Novum Wines and Global Wine Solutions, a leading provider of fine wine and spirits to the superyacht industry, in the wider group. It has been led by drinks industry veteran Michael Saunders since January 2024, with James Kowszun, COO of Coterie Holdings appointed as managing director of Lay & Wheeler in June, following a series of appointments to bolster its executive and buying teams.
Saunders revealed Coterie’s ambitious plans to grow the business internationally and become a “repository of fine wine data” last year.
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