Naked Wines (AIM:WINE), the direct-to-consumer online wine retailer, posted adjusted EBITDA of £7.6 million for the 52 weeks ended 30 March, up 13% on the prior year and slightly ahead of its £5.5 million to £7.5 million guidance range.
Revenue fell 20% to £199.1 million, or 18% at constant currency, as the company continued recalibrating around a smaller, higher-value member base.
Gross profit margin rose to 19.9% from 18.4%, helped by price increases and improved fulfilment costs.
Net cash excluding lease liabilities climbed to £33.4 million from £30.1 million, after £9 million of cash generation offset a £6 million share buyback that repurchased 10.5% of the company's issued share capital.
Free cash flow was positive at £10.6 million, down from £18.5 million a year earlier, reflecting a slower pace of inventory reduction as stock levels normalise in the UK and Australia. Total inventory fell to £97.2 million, its lowest level in five years.
The statutory loss before tax widened to £6.3 million from £4.9 million, reflecting £6 million of adjusted items including restructuring costs, an asset impairment and a software write-off.
"We grew adjusted EBITDA to £7.6 million, strengthened the balance sheet to £33.4 million of net cash, and returned over £6 million to shareholders", said chief executive Rodrigo Maza.
For the year ahead, Naked Wines guided to revenue of £158 million to £175 million, adjusted EBITDA of £7.6 million to £9 million, and net cash of £34 million to £42 million, reaffirming its medium-term target of generating more than £45 million of cash by the end of FY30.
News Intelligence what this means for the company
Naked Wines beat adjusted EBITDA guidance at £7.6m despite a 20% revenue drop, signalling that its deliberate pivot toward fewer, higher-value customers is working operationally. Gross margin expanded to 19.9% from 18.4%, net cash rose to £33.4m, and the company returned £6m to shareholders via buyback while maintaining positive free cash flow of £10.6m—evidence that profitability, not growth, is now the priority.
The company has successfully traded revenue for margin and cash generation, a strategic reset that appears to be executing as planned. Forward guidance of £7.6m–£9m adjusted EBITDA (flat to +18% from current) and a reaffirmed medium-term target of £45m+ net cash by FY30 suggest management confidence in the smaller-but-profitable model, though the next phase will depend on whether this customer base stabilises and whether the planned platform migration delivers the promised opex savings.
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