How can Hotel Chocolat keep defying challenges?
Strong results from the chocolate makers have justified a stretched valuation, but others haven’t been so fortunate. We analyse a number of this week’s trading updates.
The rich valuation of premium British chocolatier Hotel Chocolat (LON: HOTC) mirrors that of its products. At 410p, the group is valued at £474m or 3 times forecast sales and 40 times forecast earnings for the year ending June 2020. As many companies in the UK have found to their cost, including Fevertree just this week, that type of valuation comes with great expectation. Hotel Chocolat must keep delivering. My Christmas presents suggested that demand is flying – anecdotal evidence was confirmed by this week’s trading period for the six months to 29 December when sales rose 14%. Business was boosted…