Naked Wines outlines new strategic plan, shares surge

(Sharecast News) - Naked Wines surged on Thursday as investors welcomed the company's new strategic plan to deliver "significant cash, distributions, and sustainable profitable growth". At a strategy event, the company laid out three key priorities. The first is to achieve £75m cash from the March 2025 balance sheet. This will be delivered over the medium term largely by liquidating £40m of excess inventory.

The second is to reach £10m-£15m annual EBITDA. Naked Wines noted that the business is now adjusted free cash flow positive.

In the medium term, it plans for revenue to stabilise at £200m-£225m around a profitable core of members, with EBITDA progressively growing to £10m-£15m, supported by £23m of newly identified annualised cost savings. This will create up to £30m in additional net cash, it said.

The third priority is to achieve sustainable underlying revenue growth. Naked Wines is targeting a 5-10% exit growth rate. It said FY25 tests confirmed the company has the right customer membership model, which can improve payback and return the business to membership growth, as it did in Australia in FY25.

The online wine retailer also said on Thursday that its FY25 performance continues to track in line with expectations and the guidance given at the peak trading update in January.

Chief executive Rodrigo Maza said: "A year ago, I made a commitment to deliver real value to all our stakeholders. We now have a powerful plan that fulfils that promise, as we deliver on FY25 guidance even in the face of challenging market conditions.

"We will look to commence distributions, unlock capital from surplus inventory, double down on serving our most valuable members, and transform how we attract and retain new customers.

"I am deeply grateful to the team for their commitment and relentless hard work. Together, we are turning challenges into opportunities and paving the way for a bright future."

At 0920 GMT, the shares were up 16% at 73.10p.