Naked Wines shares rose on Friday after announcing it will return up to £5.7m to shareholders through a tender offer at a chunky premium, as the online wine retailer’s slimmed-down turnaround provides surplus cash.
Under the tender offer, investors can sell stock at 80p each, a premium of about 27% to the 63p closing price before the announcement.
The market received the move well, and Naked Wines shares rose 16% on Friday.
The buyback is worth between £2m and £5.7m, the top end representing roughly 10.7% of the shares in issue. Naked has deliberately left the final size open until after the crucial pre-Christmas trading period: it will go to the full £5.7m only if net cash lands at or above the midpoint of guidance, and about £4m if trading comes in towards the lower half.
The final figure is due on 8 December, with completion expected on 16 December.
A post-close update pointed to steady progress on a strategy of becoming smaller but more profitable.
Revenue is still falling by design, but the company said it was acquiring fewer, higher-quality customers, and the time for a new member to repay their acquisition cost fell sharply toward a 24-month target, from well over three years a year ago.
Naked reiterated full-year guidance of £158m-£175m in revenue and adjusted earnings of £7.6m-£9.0m, with net cash of £34m-£42m before the tender.
Investors should note the company still expects around $14m of costs between now and 2030 as it liquidates excess inventory, a reminder that the clean-up is not yet finished.