Naked Wines FY losses widen, makes 'significant strides'

Online wine retailer Naked Wines said it was "in much better shape" than it was twelve months ago despite posting widened full-year losses on Wednesday.

Naked Wines said total sales fell by 18% to £290.0m for the year ended 1 April, while statutory pre-tax losses widened from £15.0m to £16.3m as the group poured more money into customer acquisition and repeat business from existing customers fell. Adjusted underlying earnings crashed 71% to £5.0m.

However, chief executive Rodrigo Maza said Naked Wines had made "significant strides" of late by "strengthening financial foundations, embedding resilient management practices, and crystallising a robust customer proposition".

"This proposition not only drives our mission to enable independently-minded wine drinkers to enjoy great wine without the guesswork but ultimately ensures long-term engagement and a competitive advantage," said Maza.

Separately, Naked Wines tapped Dominic Neary to take over as chief financial officer, with effect from 11 November, joining the firm from Mind Gym.

As of 0920 BST, Naked Wines shares were up 3.51% at 52.79p.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com