Naked Wines slashed its annual revenue and profit forecasts and said CEO Nick Devlin will leave the online wine seller as it bleeds customers in the United States, sending its shares plunging over 20%.
Revenue for the year is expected to fall between 12% and 16% from year-ago levels, while adjusted operating profit is expected to come in between £2 million (€2.3 million) and £6 million (€6.9 million), the London-listed firm said.
Naked Wines had previously forecast an 8-12% fall in revenue and profit of between £8 million (€9.2 million) and £12 million (€13.8 million) for the full year.
"Current trading in the US has fallen well behind, both in terms of sales and margin," said founder-chair Rowan Gormley, who will take on the role of executive chair until the appointment of a new CEO.
Naked Wines
Naked Wines operates across the US, the UK and Australia, with US accounting for roughly 48% of total revenue. In the first-half, sales in the US fell by 20%.
"My view is that this shortfall is largely to do with execution, which in turn is largely due to Nick Devlin splitting his time across both the role of CEO and US president," Gormley said.
Devlin, who will step down as CEO with immediate effect, will continue as president of Naked Wines USA through the trading season, the company said.
The company's shares were down 20.6% at 35.75p as of 08:08 GMT.
In September, the group reported that its financial year 2024 had started slower than expected, with first-quarter revenue down 18% versus the prior year.
The company attributed this decline to a combination of factors including sales to new customers being 41% lower, reduction in new customer investment, and sales to repeat customers down 15%.
News by Reuters, additional reporting by ESM.
