Sales in Naked Wine soared 81% during April and May compared to the same period last year as orders during the lockdown surged.
The Naked Wine share price grew 5% on Wednesday morning as the group released its first annual results since selling off Majestic Wines.
The wine retailer is still making a loss, however, sales grew 14% to £203 million in the year to the end of March.
The company said in a statement: “We entered the new financial year with good momentum as COVID-19 has influenced customer shopping behaviour and driven increased demand for the Naked Wines offer.”
Naked Wine share price has surged 70% this year alone.
Chief financial officer, James Crawford, will soon become the group’s managing director of the UK arm.
Chief executive officer, Nick Devlin, said: “In his long-standing role as CFO of Naked, James has guided the business through start-up challenges and along its rapid growth trajectory. Under his tenure the Naked business has grown 4x in size, demonstrated its potential in the US market and navigated the challenges of transition to a listed environment.”
The company has not provided a full-year outlook. As pubs and restaurants are set to open on 4 July, the demand for online alcohol sales could see a fall in demand.
“Whilst predictions are harder than ever this year, I am excited about our plans for growth and confident that the mission of Naked to connect everyday wine drinkers to the world’s best winemakers is more relevant than ever. I believe the enduring impact of COVID-19 will be to accelerate trends towards direct, online models in categories like wine and that Naked is well positioned to deliver the combination of quality, value and community customers are looking for,” said Devlin.
Naked Wine shares (LON: WINE) are up 5.76% at 389.20 (1034GMT).
