Virgin Wines revenues rise 2% in H1

Virgin Wines has revealed that total revenues rose by 2% year-on-year to £34.3m in the six months ended 29 December, despite a “subdued” consumer economic landscape that impacted the retailer last year.

In a trading update, the direct-to-consumer wine retailer reported a “significant improvement in profitability”, which it attributed to revenues growth, production cost reduction and a new warehouse system. 

According to the retailer, it also saw sales from repeat customers rise by 5%, while commercial revenues increased by 6.5% during the same period. 

As a result, the group is still on track to meet market expectations in its full-year results.

However, the group’s update confirmed that its EBITDA more than doubled year-on-year, rising 122% from £800k to £1.75m.

Jay Wright, CEO of Virgin Wines, said: “We are pleased with our performance through the first half of our financial year, particularly our strong profitability despite the challenging trading environment, with EBITDA representing over 5% of revenue.

“Following operational challenges last year, we made significant improvements in our warehouse operations, achieving a planned reduction in fulfilment costs, while maintaining an excellent next day delivery service throughout the busy peak trading period.”

The company’s performance comes after its shares slumped 33% in the last 12 months as consumers scaled back on luxuries. Virgin Wines also suffered a pretax loss of £700k in the previous financial year.