Virgin Wines lowers guidance following Omicron and supply chain issues
Online wine retailer Virgin Wines was forced today to lower its profit and revenue for the year ending June 2022 following disruption caused by Omicron and supply chain issues.
“Like many businesses, we experienced several operational challenges in the Period due to well-publicised, external, macroeconomic factors including labour market shortages caused by the emergence of the Omicron Covid-19 variant, staff absences due to illness/self-isolation, freight disruption and inflationary pressures,” said the company in a statement.
Labour shortages forced Virgin Wines to cut off for Christmas delivery two days earlier than planned, and that led to a £800,000 slump in sales.
Despite the effect of Covid, in the six months ended 31 December, Virgin Wines reported 55 per cent hike in revenue, going up to £40.5m as a result of core channel sales increasing 6.2 per cent on 2021 levels to £29.6m.
The group’s subscription schemes such as WineBank performed particularly well, representing 82 per cent of total revenue and 79 per cent of direct-to-consumer sales.
“This performance continues to reflect the strength of our award-winning consumer propositions, the ongoing loyalty of our existing customers, the quality of our wines and our growing reputation for outstanding customer service,” commented chief executive Jay Wright. “Despite current headwinds we look forward to the future with optimism.”