Naked Wines ‘energised’ by strong financial year
Online retailer Naked Wines has reported “strong progress” on cost reduction and pricing measures in a trading update confirming it is on track to hit its financial expectation this financial year.
The pre-close trading update said that revenue is expected to be around £200 million, in line with the guidance of £200m to £216m set in August, as it continues to focus on a smaller but more profitable core business. Similarly the adjusted EBITDA is expected to be towards the top end of its £5.5m to £7.5m expectations.
This follows last year’s sweeping measure to liquidate £40m of inventory as part of CEO Rodrigo Maza’s “powerful plan” to take the company forward after it struggled for several years with falling sales and customer retention. This resulted in it reporting a £15 million loss in September 2023, as sales dropped from £34 million in 2022 to £26.9 million. A further drop of 15% in the first half of 2024 caused the value of Naked shares to plummet by nearly a third.
However, Naked Wines chief executive Rodrigo Maza said the strong year in 2026 reflected “substantial progress” with the company’s strategy that was set out last March. At the time he said stabilising revenues by the financial year 2029 at about £200-£225m, “would return the business to a health not seen since before 2023.”
Partner Content
“The decisions we made during the year will materially improve our profitability over the periods to come, as we continue to build a stronger and more resilient business which will then grow,” he said in yesterday’s trading update.
Since then, its inventory had improved, hitting its lowest level in five years, and net cash balance rose from £3m to £33.4 million, which it said reflected a £9million cash generation which had been partially offset by a £6million share buyback.
Implementing the savings during the 2026 financial year had cost around £2-£3 million in exceptional cost, the update noted, while the cost of the inventory liquidation – selling off unwanted stock often at a reduced price in order to convert assets into cash and free up warehouse space – was around US $17 million.
In the mid-term, Naked is hoping to build the company’s underlying EBITDA to £10m-£15m over the Medium Term, but for now the company said it was going into the next financial year “with momentum and energised for what lies ahead”.
Related news
Strong peak trading to boost Naked Wines' year profitability
Naked Wines posts higher profitability despite revenue decline in HY26
