Company Announcements

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of the retained UK version of the EU Market Abuse Regulation (EU) 596/2014 ("UK MAR").

24 September 2025

Chapel Down Group plc

('CDG' or 'the Company')

UNAUDITED RESULTS FOR THE PERIOD ENDED 30 JUNE 2025

Realignment of Strategic Priorities and on track to deliver full year results in line with expectations

Financial Highlights

Strategic Highlights

Update on New Winery

Outlook

James Pennefather, CEO, commented: "With over 1,000 acres of vineyards already planted in some of Kent's finest terroir, Chapel Down has laid the foundations for sustained profitable growth in the medium-term. I am therefore delighted at the progress this year that Chapel Down has made against this goal, ensuring that we have the winemaking capacity, strong brand and routes to market in place to deliver this. We continue to see significant future potential both within the UK and in key export markets and believe that our leading brand remains well positioned to benefit from the positive consumer engagement we are seeing within the category. I would like to thank all members of the Chapel Down team and our partners for the significant contribution they are making to our continued delivery of sustained profitable growth."

Michael Spencer, Chair, commented: "I am delighted to be leading the Board into this important next growth phase for the Company. With a strong brand, established routes to market, major investments already made in assets including new vineyards, our Tenterden winery and maturing wine stocks, Chapel Down is well-positioned to benefit from the underlying momentum of the English sparkling wine category to deliver sustained profitable growth in the medium-term."

CEO STRATEGIC UPDATE

Having been appointed to the Board of Directors in February, with Louan Mouton (Company CFO) joining in April, we have now had sufficient time to conduct a periodic and far-reaching review of the Chapel Down business. We are pleased to confirm that the foundations of the business are strong, with the Company's prior strategy continuing to drive Chapel Down effectively towards its goals. Notwithstanding this, we have decided to redefine the Company's current strategic priorities to achieve the Company's ambition to win an equivalent 1% share of the global Champagne market by 2035.

We have three strategic priorities for our next phase of growth:

1.   Brand Value Enhancement

We are building a global sparkling wine brand with the same quality credentials as Champagne but with a more approachable positioning.

In our Kent vineyards and winery, we have a relentless drive in the pursuit of excellence. We make fresh, crisp wines with vitality and finesse which are globally recognized for their exceptional quality and which are perfect for a broad range of celebration occasions. With Chapel Down's bold visual brand identity, established associations with icons of 'Modern British luxury' and brand campaign to provide a "fresher way to celebrate," we are proud to be the recognised leading English wine brand.  

2.   Sustainable Channel Expansion

We will develop and implement repeatable growth drivers across channels, both in the UK and in key international markets.  

We have a well-established B2B business in the UK, with our own sales team and significant distribution growth potential in both the Off- and On-Trade channels.  These customers are increasingly supporting Chapel Down because we can offer category thought leadership and because our brand attracts high value Millennial consumers who trade up from cheaper sparkling wines. Our Direct-to-Consumer ("DTC") business model is highly effective at consumer acquisition, retention and conversion. Each year we sample c.70k consumers through our Brand Home at Tenterden or at one of our experiential events. Once consumers are converted - and we now have almost 100k of them in our online community - they are further engaged through ongoing customer relationship marketing as well as the chance to own shares. We have a significant opportunity to grow our distribution footprint internationally (into the Top 10 Champagne export markets, out of which we are currently only distributed in 5) and also work with 4 major Global Travel Retail partners, where Chapel Down meets a key traveller need for brands with a sense of place.

3.   Disciplined Capital Management

We will leverage our existing assets - vineyards, winery, maturing wines, engaged employees - to deliver sustained profitable growth.

With the investments already made in planting new vineyards at Boxley Abbey and Buckwell, we have sufficient vines to support our growth ambitions in the medium-term. Due to the long maturing process of our strategic Traditional Method Sparkling wine portfolio, we require capital to invest in high quality inventories of exceptional wines to be sold in future years. Through our RCF we carefully manage our working capital to ensure sufficient stocks are available to underpin future growth, support our premiumisation ambitions and ensure continuity of supply by mitigating against poor harvest yields. With the investments already made in technology we have robust and scalable internal systems and governance procedures in place to support the wider business with informed decision making. The Board will consider any further requirements for additional capex if it would deliver sustained benefits and shareholder value through either increased revenue or structural production efficiencies.

FINANCIAL REVIEW

Channel performance overview

Off-trade

On-trade

Export

DTC

Product category performance overview

Note 1: Market leading 'Consumer awareness' growth to 46% (H1 2024: 42%, YE 2024: 42%), 'Penetration' growth to 20% (H1 2024: 15%, YE 2024: 17%) and social media following growth to 131k followers (H1 2024: 118k, YE 2024 126k).
Source: Savanta, BrandVue, Sparkling wine drinkers, MAT end June 2025; June 2024; and December 2024.

Note 2: Chapel Down sparkling wine growth was +12% (+15% for Traditional Method Sparkling wine) compared to English Sparkling Wine category growth of +10%. Chapel Down remains the market leader in the English Sparkling Wine category with 35% market share across the Off-trade channel. Source: Nielsen Off-trade consumer retail sales value for 52 w/e 14^th June 2025 vs 52 w/e 15^th June 2024.

Note 3: Source: Off-trade EPOS consumer sales out across Waitrose, Sainsburys, Tesco, M&S, Morrisons and Majestic 1^st January 2025 - 30^th June 2025 vs 1^st January 2024 - 30^th June 2024.

Note 4: Source: Global Travel Retail consumer retail sales value as per Avolta, Lagardere and Harding data 1^st January 2025 - 30^th June 2025 vs 1^st January 2024 - 30^th June 2024.

Note 5:  Trip Advisor 2025 Traveller's Choice Awards.

Note 6: Exceptional items relate to the final payments for the Strategic Review in 2024. No further costs related to the Strategic Review are expected.

Note 7: In addition to the statutory measures, the Group also measures its performance by reference to Adjusted EBITDA. Adjusted EBITDA is an Alternative Performance Measure (APM), as defined within the European Securities and Markets Authority Guidelines on APMs. Adjusted EBITDA relates to profit from operations before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation, share based payment expense and exceptional costs. Also see Note 4 to the Financial Statements below.

Note 8: Source: Wine GB Industry Report 2025.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDED 30 JUNE 2025

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION

AS AT 30 JUNE 2025

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS
FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDED 30 JUNE 2025

1. BASIS OF PREPARATION/ACCOUNTING POLICIES

The Company's report for the six months ended 30 June 2025 was authorised for issue by the directors on 23 September 2025. The financial information does not constitute statutory accounts within the meaning of Section 434 of the Companies Act 2006. Accordingly, this report is to be read in conjunction with the Annual Report for the year ended 31 December 2024, which was prepared in accordance with the Company's reporting standards (International Financial Reporting Standards as adopted by the UK, IFRS) that were in effect at that time.

The Company is required to value net assets in accordance with the Company's reporting standard (IFRS). The assets (wine stock, land, vineyard) are held at cost which the Directors believe is considerably less than the net realisable value.

The statutory accounts for the year ended 31 December 2024 have been reported on by the Company's auditors, received an unqualified audit report and have been filed with the registrar of companies at Companies House. The unaudited interim financial statements for the six months ended 30 June 2025 and 30 June 2024 have been drawn up using accounting policies and presentation adopted in the Company's full financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2024, being UK adopted IFRS.

2. BALANCE SHEET REVIEW

The net asset value of the Company as at 30 June 2025 was £32,174k which includes:

3. LOSS PER SHARE

The calculation of the profit per share for the six months ended 30 June 2025 is based on the loss for the period of £577k and the weighted average number of shares in issue during the period of 171,524,316 exclusive of the effect of dilutive share options, and 174,511,632 inclusive of dilutive options.

4. Reconciliation of operating (loss)/profit to adjusted EBITDA

As detailed within note 31 of the 2024 Annual Report, at 2024 year-end management performed a detailed review of the Group's Adjusted EBITDA metric. During this review process, management noted that whilst it was adding back the full amount of annual depreciation within the calculation of Adjusted EBITDA, the same treatment was not being applied to lease interest costs that are absorbed into the value of inventory and bearer plants. To ensure the Group's Adjusted EBITDA metric remains as consistent as possible for users of the accounts, the Group opted to revise its Adjusted EBITDA calculation such that the full annual interest charge is excluded from the metric going forwards. This will ensure consistent treatment of both depreciation and interest charges in the adjusted EBITDA calculation. As a result of this change, the prior year Adjusted EBITDA comparative has been restated to align to the revised basis.

5. DISTRIBUTION OF THE HALF YEAR STATEMENT

Copies of this statement will be available for collection free of charge from the Company's registered office at Chapel Down Winery, Small Hythe Road, Tenterden, TN30 7NG. An electronic version will be available on the Company's website, www.chapeldown.com.

Contacts

About Chapel Down:

Chapel Down (AIM: CDGP) is England's leading and largest winemaker and the power brand of English wine, the world's newest international wine region. From its home in Kent in the heart of the Garden of England, Chapel Down produces a range of sparkling and still wines which consistently win prestigious international awards for their quality. Chapel Down has over 1,000 acres of vineyards, c.9% of the UK's total, of which 777 acres are fully productive.

Chapel Down's status as the most recognised English wine brand is supported by its partnerships with flagship sporting and cultural events including Royal Ascot, The Boat Race and Pub in the Park, and Chapel Down is the 'Official Sparkling Wine' of the England and Wales Cricket Board.

Chapel Down is listed on the London Stock Exchange's AIM and has over 10,000 retail investors who enjoy discounts on Chapel Down's wines, tours and tastings at the brand's home at Tenterden in Kent, which each year attracts c50,000 visitors.

Chapel Down is strongly committed to growing its business in balance with the environment and sustainability is a strong, ongoing focus. The company is a founding member of Sustainable Wines of Great Britain and practices sustainable viticulture.