Naked Wines Plc expects profit for the full year 2023 at the top end or slightly above its guidance, at around £15-18 million (€17-€20.3 million), according to a pre-close trading update.
Total revenue amounted to around £350 million (€395.52 million), flat on a reported basis, for its financial year ended 3 April 2023. The figures represent a 6% to 8% decline on a comparable basis.
Reported profit before tax will range between £2-£5 million (€2.3-€5.7 million), the company added.
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'A Challenging Year'
Nick Devlin, group chief executive, commented, "FY23 has been a challenging year, but we have made significant strategic progress with a foundation for sustainable, profitable growth.
"Our pivot to profit is on track, delivering profitability at the top end of our guidance. Our cost control actions have resulted in SG&A at the low end of our expectation, while destocking continues as planned."
New customer investment for the financial year will amount to approximately £21 million (€23.7 million), with five-year payback expected to be 1.6-1.8x.
Net cash balance stood at £10 million (€11.3 million), supported by inventory reduction that aligns with its guidance.
Outlook
Devlin said that Naked Wines will enter the new financial year "as a significantly larger and substantially more profitable business than we were pre-pandemic."
The company expects a modest revenue decline near-term, but the demand outlook is stabilising, and it has identified opportunities for material cost savings in its fulfilment operations in the medium term.
He added, "We continue to expect to generate cash in the second half of FY24 as stock levels reduce. Planned developments in our customer proposition will increase the rate of new customer recruitment. [...]"
Naked Wines will share further information and a detailed guidance for the new financial year with its full-year results presentation.
© 2023 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest drinks news. Article by Dayeeta Das. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
