Naked Wines PLC on Tuesday reduced its full year revenue guidance due to ‘weaker than anticipated’ trading in the US market in its first half, and announced Chief Executive Officer Nick Devlin has stepped down.

Shares in Naked Wines plunged 31% to 30.85 pence each in London on late Tuesday morning.

The Norwich-based online wine seller said it now predicts annual sales for the year ending March 28 will fall between 12% and 16%, from £354.0 million a year prior, when it had previously expected a drop in the range of 8% to 12%.

Further, anticipated adjusted earnings before interest and tax have also been reduced to a range of between £2 million and £6 million, from a previous prediction of £8 million to £12 million. It would be a sharp decline from £16.3 million in financial 2023.

This comes as revenue for the six months to September 26 fell by 17%, from £165.8 million in the corresponding half a year ago.

‘While [second quarter] trading in the UK and Australian markets has been broadly in line with the forecasts supporting prior guidance, trading in the US during [the second quarter] and October has been weaker than anticipated. In particular, the repeat business has fallen short of targeted revenues and contribution margins,’ Naked Wines said.

The wine vendor also announced Nick Devlin has stepped down as CEO with immediate effect. It added that Founder & Chair Rowan Gormley has become executive chair on an interim basis. Devlin will remain as president for Naked Wines USA ‘through the peak trading period’ before leaving the group entirely.

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