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Virgin Wines UK PLC on Friday announced plans to exit its Bolton warehouse early next year, having leased a new one in Preston, and issued guidance for its current financial year that was below consensus expectations. Shares in Virgin Wines fell 13% to 29.00 pence at around midday on Friday. The Norwich, England-based online wine retailer said that the macroeconomic environment ‘continues to exert pressure on consumer confidence and discretionary spend,’ exacerbated by the effects of the Middle East conflict. It said it has worked hard to mitigate the resulting material cost increases, but that eliminating them completely has proven difficult. Subsequently, for the financial year ending July 3, Virgin Wines said it expects revenue of approximately £61 million; a £200,000 adjusted loss before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation; and a £1.5 million pretax loss. It cited the pre-announcement current market consensus as forecasting revenue of £63.3 million, £100,000 in adjusted Ebitda, and a £1 million pretax loss. However, Virgin Wines said it has seen positive sales trends each quarter following the execution of its growth strategy, with sales down 4.5% for the first quarter before rising 5% in the second and 8% in the third. Furthermore, Virgin said its business continues to win significant market share and expects to achieve revenue growth of approximately 4% during financial 2026 and customer acquisition growth exceeding 40%. ‘Our value proposition, Warehouse Wines, is expected to deliver FY26 revenue up 90% year-on-year,’ it added. ‘This encouraging progress provides confidence in the strategy and underpins the company’s ability to deliver its medium-term targets.’ Also on Friday, Virgin Wines announced the signing of its lease on a new warehouse facility in Preston, England. The move will ‘provide meaningful synergies, economies of scale and structural operational benefits from FY28 onwards,’ it said. It expects to report around £700,000 in associated exceptional operating costs, and increased capex investment of approximately £1.6 million, which it expects to fund using its existing cash reserves. The company noted that it remains debt-free and maintains a ‘strong’ balance sheet. Virgin said it intends to exit its current Bolton, England site by the end of February. ‘Our execution against the key pillars of our growth strategy is delivering encouraging progress, despite that growth now being slightly slower than our original plan due to external market pressures,’ Chief Executive Officer Jay Wright commented. ‘We are evidencing that the strategy is working, and we remain focused on taking further market share and continuing to invest in our growth channels. ‘We have an exceptionally loyal customer base who appreciate the outstanding quality and value of our exclusive wine portfolio and the exceptional levels of customer service we consistently deliver. We look forward to pressing ahead with our growth strategy and delivering on our medium-term goals.’ Copyright 2026 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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