Naked Wines PLC on Monday said that Chief Financial Officer Shawn Tabak stepped down last Friday, following a stark sales warning in June.

Shares in the Norwich, Norfolk-based online wine retailer were down 4.2% at 158.10 pence each in London on Monday morning.

Tabak has been CFO of Naked Wines since December 2020, succeeding James Crawford who held the position for five years between April 2015 to November 2020.

Crawford, who is currently managing director of the Naked Wines business in the UK, has been appointed as CFO on an interim basis through to June 2023.

Naked Wines said he will combine this interim role with his responsibilities as managing director.

The board position being vacated by Tabak will not be filled at this time, the company added.

In June, the wine retailer warned that it expects little sales progress in the year ahead.

In its financial year that ended March 28, it posted a pretax profit of £2.9 million, compared to a loss of £10.7 million in financial 2021. Revenue increased by 3.0% to £350.3 million from £340.2 million.

However, Naked Wines’ cash balance dropped to £40 million from £85 million a year ago.

Looking ahead, for its current financial year 2023, Naked Wines expects group sales in the range of £345 million to £375 million, down 4% in the worst and up 4% in the best scenario on financial year 2022.

Chief Executive Officer Nick Devlin said: ‘Shawn‘s experience in leading finance organisations in high-growth US environments has been valuable. During his time at the company we have achieved significant growth which we have consolidated in our most recently completed fiscal year.

‘I’m delighted to be able to call on James, a highly accomplished executive with unmatched knowledge of the business and value creation model to return to the CFO role on an interim basis,’ Devlin added.

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