Naked Wines PLC (LON:WINE) said winemaking has continued around the world and that it has seen “increased customer demand” because of the coronavirus lockdown.
“As winemakers are considered agricultural, the grape harvest and wine production processes we depend on around the world have been able to continue largely unaffected,” the AIM-listed digital retailer said, to the relief of many thousands of lockdownees around the globe.
The supply chain has continued to operate “efficiently”, just with additional health and safety constraints, while all office staff in the UK, US and Australian have been working remotely since 17 March.
“Since restrictions on social gathering began, we have seen higher levels of demand from both new and repeat customers in all of our markets, particularly in the US,” the company said.
This has resulted in a surge of sales in the last weeks of its financial year to 1 April, meaning revenue is expected to top £200mln, slightly ahead of consensus forecast of £199mln.
With cash standing above £50mln at the end of March, with no debt and good access to inventory, the company said it expects to “continue to invest for growth for as long as strong levels of consumer demand persist”.
Chief executive Nick Devlin, who took the reins after Naked founder Rowan Gormley used the £95mln proceeds from the sale of Majestic Wine last summer to pay off debt, said: “In the short term, the introduction of social distancing has accelerated the shift in consumer buying behaviour towards online, leading to increased demand from both new and existing customers across all our markets.
“In the US, especially, I believe the current period could serve as an inflection point for the growth rate of the online category, and as the largest direct to consumer player in the US market we are well positioned as customers move online.”
He acknowledged that over the medium-term, the economic impact from coronavirus created uncertainty, but felt Naked Wines was “well placed to meet the challenges of a changing consumer environment”.