25th Mar 2024 11:50
(Alliance News) - Virgin Wines UK PLC on Monday said interim profit growth was underpinned by its "resilient business model".
Shares in Virgin Wines were up 10% at 41.80 pence each in London on Monday morning.
Norwich, England-based Virgin Wines is one of the UK's largest direct-to-consumer online wine retailers. It offers nearly 700 different wines and about 150 spirits to an active customer base of more than 170,000.
Pretax profit in the six months to December 29 multiplied to GBP1.1 million from GBP90,000 the year before.
This was driven by a slight increase of 2.0% in revenue to GBP34.3 million from GBP33.6 million the year before.
This was underpinned by the "resilience" of its main subscription scheme, Virgin Wines explained, with subscription sales rising by 6.5% to GBP20.5 million. Additionally, its WineBank arm also saw revenue rise by 6.5% to GBP1.3 million.
The firm did not recommend an interim dividend, unchanged from a year ago, but said it would keep its dividend policy under review.
The firm also said that it has approved a limited share buyback programme, further details of which will be announced in due course.
Looking ahead, Virgin Wines said it continues to look at growth opportunities. "We have been encouraged by both the operational performance and level of profit generated in the first half of the year, which has given us a solid platform moving into [the second half of 2024]", it added.
Chief Executive Officer Jay Wright said: "We are pleased to report a positive first half performance, with the underlying business performing well including through the peak Christmas period, and the introduction of our key strategic initiatives better positioning the company to achieve further growth into the future.
"Our customer base remains active and loyal, with cancellation rates continuing to trend positively despite macroeconomic uncertainties. We remain focused on high quality customer acquisition and are pleased that our conversion rate increased by 22% year-on-year."
By Sabrina Penty, Alliance News reporter
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