The share price of one of Kent’s leading winemakers hit a new low last week - one month on from confirming plans for a potential sale of the business had been scrapped.

The Tenterden-based Chapel Down announced in June it was considering a sale as one of a number of options to help fuel its ambitious growth plans.

But last month it confirmed its ‘strategic review’ was complete and that there were “no transactions that would create superior long term shareholder value” and that it was no longer in an ‘offer period’.

It came just weeks after its latest financial figures, published in September, for the six-month period up to June 30, saw its pre-tax profits drop a startling 98% to £40,000. That compares to £2.4 million in 2023.

Last month, it confirmed its 2024 harvest would be almost half of that of the previous year - down to around 1,875 tonnes compared to 3,811 in 2023.

It blamed the weather for the decline, but said it had sufficient inventory to prevent it having any impact on supply.

It added while it expected to deliver a ‘trading operating profit’ for the full year, it would be lower than in 2023.

The news sent its stock market price - it is listed on London’s Alternative Investment Market (AIM) - plummetting.

From a high of 77p a share in July, last week it limped to just 35.5p - a drop of more than 50%.

The company, which says it will continue as an independent following the failure to attract a buyer, also confirmed earlier this year its CEO, Andrew Carter, would be quitting in 2025 to join brewery Timothy Taylor & Co.